


Matched

by asroarke



Series: Matched [1]
Category: Are You the One? (TV), The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Clarke griffin/ Lexa (minor), Drama, F/F, F/M, M/M, Slow Burn, references to anxiety and panic attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-10-30 22:54:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 78,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10886613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asroarke/pseuds/asroarke
Summary: “If this ends badly, I blame you.”“I got you onto one of the most popular dating shows on TV where they basically guarantee that they’ll find your soulmate. If this ends badly, it’s on you, sweetheart,” her mom snapped back with a smile.Reality Show AU where everyone has a perfect match in the house and if everyone finds their perfect match by the end, they win one million dollars.





	1. Drinking Games

**Author's Note:**

> This was basically my excuse to throw all my favorite characters from the 100 into my favorite reality show. The game is actually called Are You the One? Basically it works like this:  
> -twenty people live in a house, ten guys, ten girls  
> -each person has a perfect match in the house  
> -each week they compete in challenges to get to go on a date  
> -the house votes for one of the pairs that go on a date to go into the "truth booth" which is the only way to know if you have a perfect match  
> -if you confirm your perfect match in the truth booth, you get to leave the house for the honeymoon suite  
> -each week everyone picks who they think their perfect match is and then we all find out how many perfect matches out of ten they got
> 
> The main difference between the original show and my fic is that the original show only has heterosexual pairings for now. I threw that out the window because, you know, sexuality is fluid. But, that makes the show much more difficult.

_Clarke_

  
“Why on earth did you think I would enjoy going on that show?” Clarke was staring at the show’s Wikipedia page, trying to figure out how many swimsuits she would need to pack.

“You know why,” her mother replied, leaning against the door frame. Yes, Clarke knew why. In the past few years, she had stopped going out and meeting people. Her father’s death was hard on her. She watched her mother’s heart break into a thousand pieces because she had lost the love of her life. Her soulmate. Clarke never really believed in soulmates. But, if soulmates did exist, her parents were it.

Clarke had dated a few people, but they never lasted long. She figured it would be easier to end things early so that she would never have to go through what her mother did. Clarke didn’t think she was strong enough to find love and then lose it. It would be better to just never find that person.

“If this ends badly, I blame you.”

“I got you onto one of the most popular dating shows on TV where they basically guarantee that they’ll find your soulmate. If this ends badly, it’s on you, sweetheart,” her mom snapped back with a smile. Clarke ignored her and went to grab her sketchbook, before carefully tucking it into her suitcase.

“Well, even if I don’t find love, I could still win money,” Clarke laughed to herself. Worst case scenario, she wouldn’t find love or money, but could quit her job to become a reality TV star.

 

_Octavia_

 

“Hey, this could be fun. I could totally tell you which girls are fake and you can tell me which guys are acting super douchey,” Octavia joked. She put her feet up on the dashboard, which she knew Bellamy hated.

“O, I don’t find this funny. I can’t believe you nominated me for this crap,” Bellamy replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Okay, first of all, you nominated me too. So, let’s chill out.” Octavia had been watching this show since high school and always wanted to be on it. Bellamy teased her for it whenever it was on. Nominating Bell for the show was kind of a drunken mistake. They had gotten into a fight over her ex-boyfriend, Atom. He told her that she went out of her way to pick out people who aren’t right for her and she stormed out and ended up drinking with her roommate. Bellamy was just as horrible at relationships as she was. The only reason he was so obsessed with her love life was because he no longer had one. So, after three shots of tequila, she decided to nominate her brother for Matched, a show that she knew he hated. She never thought he’d get in. And she never thought her brother would nominate her.

“It was my way of apologizing. I know how much you love that show. I nominated you out of love. You nominated me out of spite,” he sighed. He turned on his blinker and they pulled into the airport. “Now, we are two siblings stuck on a show that’s notorious for the obscene amount of sex. And that’s just awkward and weird and we can’t get out of it.”

It was going to be weird. She couldn’t very well find her true love if her big brother kept scaring him away. But, at least she knows there is one person in this house that wouldn’t break her heart.

 

_Finn_

 

He had never flown first class before. The leg room alone made this the best flight of his life. Finn was watching as passengers boarded the plane, wondering who was going to sit next to him.

Then, a girl with braided blonde hair put her carry-on in the overhead compartment and took her seat. Her headphones were in and only looked at him to give him a small smile, before looking back at her phone. Finn nosily glanced over his shoulder to see she was watching last season’s finale of Matched.

“Holy shit,” he said, without thinking, causing the girl to flinch. A mother who was holding her toddler glared at him as she made her way back to coach. He really needed to watch his language in public.

She pulled out one of her headphones. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be rude. I just wanted to finish this episode before the plane took off. I am kinda on this show’s next season and I am trying to learn as much as I can about it before I get there.”

“That’s crazy. I am going to be on that show too. That’s why I freaked out that you were watching it. I just watched that episode last night.” He stopped, realizing that he had just started talking too quickly. “I’m Finn, by the way.”

She pulled out both of her headphones and said, “Nice to meet you. My name is Harper.”

 

_Lexa_

 

She was the first person to arrive. She dropped her bags off with one of the guys from the studio. There were cameras everywhere. The producer at least made an effort to say hello to her before taking off. Other than that, no one had really talked to her. Which she was fine with.

If she was being honest with herself, she needed a little bit of quiet time to digest everything that was about to happen. She always wanted to be on this show but never thought she could because she wasn’t exactly interested in guys. The show had only ever cast straight people in the past. But, for the first time in the show’s history, a majority of the cast was actually bisexual. Lexa was thrilled that her favorite show was finally catching up with the times. But, since this was their first time doing this, she had no idea how that change might alter how the game works.

Her strategy would remain the same, regardless. Hang back. Don’t get too attached to anyone early on. And above all, don’t sleep with anyone that she’s not certain is her match.

 

_Lincoln_

 

He counted eighteen. He started counting again. Maybe he forgot to count himself. No, there were definitely only eighteen contestants in the room. The show’s host, Marcus Kane, was pacing in the foyer while Lincoln and the other contestants stood awkwardly in the foyer. They had all been instructed not to talk to each other yet, so that they could get everyone’s first interactions on film. However, Lincoln was sure that they had not anticipated two contestants being thirty-five minutes late. Everyone in the room was getting antsy, from having to awkwardly stand next to the people they were going to spend the next ten weeks with but not being allowed to speak to them.

“They just pulled up!” Lincoln heard one of the technicians yell out. He heard someone behind him grumble, “oh thank God.” Next thing he knew, the door flew open and two people came running in. One was a taller man with dark curls, freckles, and a look on his face that screamed he would murder everyone if they looked at him the wrong way. The other, was a girl who would not stop smiling. She was much shorter than the man she came in with, but they looked kind of similar. She was beautiful.

“We’re here, bitches!” she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air, without her smile fading for even a moment. The man who walked in with her finally broke his stern look with a small chuckle. She giggled as she joined the rest of the contestants, practically skipping to her spot.

Lincoln tried to pay attention to Kane’s opening remarks, but he couldn’t stop stealing glances at the girl with the smile. She just looked so happy.

He has been on his own for such a long time. He hasn’t been sad or anything. But, he wasn’t happy either. Just content and lonely. That girl looked like she had more than enough happiness to share. Lincoln just hoped that someone as beautiful as her would want to share some of that happiness with him.

 

_Wells_

 

It was unbearably awkward. This looked so much easier on TV, Wells thought, staring into his red solo cup. Everyone was huddled into clusters, making small talk, trying to get to know each other. It would feel like a normal party… except with microphones and cameras everywhere and no one had actually met each other before. Except the siblings that ended up on the show. That had to be weird for them.

“I can’t believe we went to Ark U together at the same time and literally never crossed paths,” Jasper, sort of drunkenly, shouted toward Monty. Monty’s face was getting all red, probably from all the beer. Wells had been talking with the two of them for the last few minutes, but was beginning to feel like a third wheel.

“I know! Like it’s so sad because like even though I just met you, I know we would have been best friends, you know?” Monty replied. His words were starting to slur together. Wells would have to start chugging if he wanted to catch up with the rest of the group. He glanced around the patio. He saw Lexa and Maya talking in the hot tub, while that quiet guy hands both of them refills on their drinks before joining them. His name might have been Roan, or maybe that was someone else. It was hard to keep track.

To his right, he saw Lincoln sitting with a blonde girl, not really talking. Maybe they both feel as awkward as he does, he thought. So, Wells slipped away from the drunken disaster that was Jasper and Monty and walked toward Lincoln.

“Hey,” he says as he sits across from Lincoln and her, “I’m Wells by the way. I don’t think we’ve actually met yet.” He reached his hand out toward the girl. She smiles softly back at him.

“I’m Clarke. Lincoln and I are playing a drinking game. Want in?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Cool. Just take a drink every time you hear Echo start laughing and take two drinks if she hiccups during the laugh,” Lincoln told him. Wells looked around for Echo. She wasn’t outside. She was sitting on the kitchen counter talking to Bellamy and Bryan, looking just as drunk as Jasper.

“Dude, she’s inside. How are we even going to hear her?” he asked. Then, as if on cue, he heard her cackle, then hiccup, then resume cackling. He looked over at Clarke as she smirked back at him.

“Drink,” she commanded, while Lincoln laughed into his cup. Okay, he could hang with these people.

 

_Raven_

 

“Okay, that’s not fair. I was like twelve when those books came out,” she snapped at Finn, who had been laughing hysterically for what felt like an hour.

“Doesn’t matter. Your first fictional crush will forever be a glittering vampire. That undermines any badass vibe you try to give off,” he said before finishing his drink. Raven had been talking to Finn exclusively for the entire night. The party around them had been dying down. It was that time of night where all the drunks started getting sleepy and needy. Raven looked over and saw Jasper asleep on Monty’s shoulder, as Monty tried desperately to stay awake and involved in this conversation.

“What I’m hearing is that you think I’m a badass.”

“What you’re hearing is that I thought you were a badass until I found out just how in love with Edward Cullen you were. Now, you can’t intimidate me,” he said, grinning like a smug idiot. She wanted to smack him. Then, kiss him. Then, smack him again. And, inevitably, kiss him again. And that’s exactly what she did.

 

_Bellamy_

 

It was way too early for drama, Bellamy thought as he went outside toward the pool. Last night had been a little bit reckless. He thought things were going well with Echo… until he saw her making out with Roan by the pool. She kept telling him that they were definitely a match and then, five minutes later, has her tongue in another guy’s mouth. He just needed to forget about her. Last night, he managed to keep his cool and go up to his room. But, he couldn’t sleep after that. Of course the first girl he is into is fake. He shouldn’t even be here.

He settles down into his chair to lay out. He hears giggling in the pool, but tries to ignore it as he slips his sunglasses on. Then, he hears splashing, followed by a girl shouting _stop_ , and next thing he knows he got splashed.

“Watch it, princess,” he shouted at the blonde in the pool.

“What did you just call me?” she shouts back. That girl didn’t know it, but she picked the wrong moment to be snarky to Bellamy. He was already done with everyone in this house.

“Princess,” he spat back as he sat up to glare at her. Lexa, the other girl in the pool, looked like she wanted to jump in but held back from actually saying anything.

“My name is Clarke,” she snapped.

Bellamy laid back down in his chair before replying, “Do I look like I give a shit what your name is?”

If she had a clever come back, he didn’t hear it. Bellamy closed his eyes and plotted how he was going to get back at Octavia for signing him up for this dumb show to begin with.

 

_Miller_

 

The second day had been pretty uneventful. Most people were hungover from the night before and since the first week of the game didn’t have a challenge, no one really had anything to do except hang out. Miller was too preoccupied trying to figure out who he would choose for the match up ceremony. He liked talking to Lincoln and Roan but really didn’t make that close of a connection to match up with them this week. He looked around the room trying to see if there was anyone he had missed. Monty was cute but they hadn’t talked. Bryan seemed overly interested in Lincoln. He would just have to figure that out after this truth booth meeting.

Apparently, each week on the night before the match up ceremony, the house would send two people into the “truth booth” to find out if they are a perfect match. It was nice because then two people who were spending a lot of time with each other could find out if it’s worth the time or if they needed to move onto someone else. Pretty much everyone voted for Monty and Jasper to go into the booth since they looked so adorable sleeping on each other last night.

Kane waited for everyone to have a seat before starting. Bellamy, who was sitting beside him, kept muttering about getting this over with. Miller and Bellamy had quickly become friends after bonding over how much they hated being on the show. Miller looked around. Raven and Finn were cuddled up together. Emori and Murphy were holding hands. Clarke and Wells were laughing at something Luna said. At least no serious drama had started yet. Drama could wait a few weeks.

“And the couple you voted into the truth booth is,” Kane said, pausing for dramatic effect, “Jasper and Monty.” The two of them weren’t even sitting next to each other, but, after making eye contact, proceeded to give themselves self-high fives. They totally practiced that. Everyone in the room was cheering as they got up to walk toward the “truth booth.”

“That’s going to be this house’s first match, you guys!” Octavia yelled, inspiring the rest of the room to resume cheering. Miller wasn’t going to hold his breath about that, though. He binge watched enough of this show to know that the house never finds a perfect match on the first week.

 

_Harper_

 

“We are going to call you guys up here, one by one. You will say who you think your perfect match is and take a seat. Then, once everyone has a match, we will show you how many matches you guessed correctly with these beams of light. One beam means one match and ten beams means ten perfect matches and that you guys will walk away with one million dollars!” Kane explained to the cameras. Harper was barely paying attention. She had heard this explanation many times from previous seasons. She was too busy trying to decide who she would choose as her match. She talked to a lot of people who had been nice, but she didn’t really connect with anyone. Maybe she should just pick Monty, since he hasn’t gotten the time to talk to anyone other than Jasper. The whole house really thought they were a perfect match. They didn’t seem all that upset about it, though. They were joking around all day together, like they were best friends.

“First up, Octavia.” She practically skipped toward Kane. “Octavia, who do you think is your perfect match?”

She turns around to look at the rest of them before smiling and choosing Jasper.

“Oh hell yes!” she heard Jasper shout from behind her, before basically running up to Octavia. They locked in while giggling and then took their seats.

Next up was Finn, who obviously chose Raven. He basically declared his love for her to Kane, as Kane just laughed and shook his head.

After that, Lexa chose Maya. Murphy chose Emori, which she thought was cute. Anya chose Luna. Bryan chose Lincoln.

Then, Miller chose Monty. Damnit, she hadn’t exactly picked out a back up option. And, of course, Kane called her next.

“So, Harper, who do you think your perfect match is?” Harper looked back at the rest of the contestants and just said the name of the first person she saw.

“Roan.” Wait, that was a mistake. Wasn’t he already kind of paired up with someone in the house?

“What?” Echo yelled. Roan, not really reacting to this situation, just calmly walked up next to Harper.

“Roan,” Kane started, “would you have picked Harper tonight?”

“Honestly, no. She’s nice, but I haven’t gotten the chance to get to know her yet. But, I’m sure we will get along just fine.” Harper lets out a breath. At least he isn’t mad at her, she thought.

“Harper, if you didn’t know Roan all that well, why did you choose him to be your match tonight?” Kane asked.

“Well, I kind of couldn’t decide who to pick and panicked and picked him,” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“So you picked someone you knew I was going to choose?” Echo yelled from where the rest of the contestants were standing. This was the exact opposite of what Harper had wanted.

“Give her a break. It’s the first week and she’s didn’t know,” Clarke snapped at Echo. Oh, thank God. She didn’t have a response to Echo and Clarke was her new guardian angel.

“I’m sorry, what does this have to do with you? Harper and I are having a private conversation,” Echo spat back at Clarke.

“It stopped being a private conversation when you started being a bitch,” Clarke yelled. Everyone in the room’s jaw dropped and Bellamy just started cackling. Harper then heard Jasper scream “yaaas” from the bench he and Octavia were sitting in. Echo just shut her mouth.

Harper and Roan took their seats quickly and waited to hear the rest of the matches.

“Next up, Echo.” Echo marched up there and chose Bellamy. Bellamy just glared at her when she called his name.

“Bellamy, you don’t seem too excited to be paired with Echo. What’s going on there?” Kane asked.

Bellamy sighed. “I don’t actually know what’s going on with us. We got along pretty well and she kept telling me that she thought she was my match. Then, I find her making out with Roan.” Seated behind her, Miller let’s out an “oh damn” and the rest of the group starts looking over at Roan.

“Okay, but it was the first night. Like I really like Bellamy but I’m not going to put all my eggs in the Bellamy basket without seeing if there are other people in the house that I might like. It’s how you play the game,” Echo argued. Harper, who had just been in the middle of Echo drama, was very amused at how quickly this all turned back on her.

“Interesting,” Kane replies. “Roan, I’m curious about how you feel about all of this.”

“Dude, I didn’t know about their situation. I was just drunk and she was pretty and she wanted to make out with me. Sorry, Bellamy. Didn’t know. But like, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.” Harper snorted at Roan’s response. He probably isn’t her match. But, it was really nice to watch him verbally bitch slap Echo.

The ceremony started to come to a close once Wells chose Clarke. Kane reminded everyone about the light beams and they waited to see how many matches they got correct.

After all the dramatic waiting, they only got one light beam. Which meant there was only one perfect match that night. Most of the house was pretty disappointed in how they did. Harper was more worried about the couples who seemed to really work well together. Only one of them is actually a match. The rest of them are setting themselves up to be heartbroken.


	2. The Triple Date from Hell

_Raven_

“What if we’re not a match?” Raven asked. Finn was staring up at the ceiling while Raven rested her head on his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair and sighed. Raven hated this. She promised herself that she wouldn’t get too attached after the first week. She’s seen this show before. She knows it never ends well for the idiots who fall in love early.

“We are a match. But, even if we’re not, that doesn’t mean this isn’t real,” Finn replied softly. Raven could hear a few other people in the room, but they didn’t seem to be paying attention to this conversation. “Look, I know it’s early. But, I know it’s you. If this show’s stupid compatibility test doesn’t agree, then who cares. We know that what we have is more important than that.”

Raven tilted her head up to look at him. He was smiling like an idiot and she never wanted him to stop. “If we weren’t the one light beam tonight, who do you think it was? Hypothetically, of course.”

“Hypothetically, it’s got to be either Clarke and Wells or Echo and Bellamy.”

“You can’t be serious.”

He propped himself up onto his elbows and looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was listening. “Okay, hear me out. Clarke and Wells have a lot in common. They both clearly come from money. He keeps following her around like a lost puppy and she seems like the kind of person who would be looking for someone who worships her, you know?”

“Hell no,” Raven blurted out before Finn shushed her. She brought her voice down a bit. “You listened to her go after Echo tonight. That girl knows how to fight and clearly likes doing it. She won’t want Wells because he will let her walk all over him.”

“Oh God, I forgot about that. Okay, then it’s Echo and Bellamy.”

“That makes even less sense than Clarke and Wells.”

“Think of it as an opposites attract kind of thing. If anyone is going to make that girl chill out, it’s Bellamy.”

“No way in hell.”

“Well, I don’t actually think they’re a match anyway,” he says as Raven raises her eyebrows. Finn leans in to kiss her forehead. “They can’t be a match since there was only one perfect match tonight and that was clearly us.”

Raven hoped he was right. Otherwise, she’d be in serious trouble.

 

_Anya_

She did not get any sleep the night before their first challenge. She stayed up way too late talking to Bryan and didn’t crawl into her bed until after 2 am. She had almost fallen asleep when she heard the sound of two people fucking in the room next to her. She tried putting the pillow over her head. She tried listening to music. She couldn’t fall asleep with the loud sex next door. At 7 am, she gave up and went out to the kitchen. Bellamy was already awake and making scrambled eggs. He didn’t look at Anya when she came in.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah I’m just fine. I love listening to Echo screw Roan all night,” he said without missing a beat. _Oh_ , those were the assholes who kept her up all night.

As the morning went on, Anya did her best to not snap at Echo. She really just wanted to keep her head down during the competition and not start any drama. By the time they started the first challenge, she had almost forgotten about the whole ordeal.

Anya paired up with Bryan for the challenge, which ended up being a quiz where they tested how well each person knew their partner. Surprisingly, they won.

“Since you two won, you get to go on a special date along with two other pairings of your choice,” Kane explained.

“Wait, I get to pick who gets paired with who for this special date?” Anya asked. When Kane said yes, Anya had a lot of thinking to do. The three couples that get to go on this special date are the three couples that the house would vote on going to the truth booth. The smart thing to do would be to put in two random pairings so that the house would vote for Anya and Bryan… but it was too early for her to think they were a match. Statistically, any other pairing would be just as likely.

She could have picked a pair that she thought could be a match so that they got voted in… but it was too early to really tell who might be a match. As Anya weighed her options, she saw Echo whispering something into Roan’s ear and giggling. Oh right, she could also choose the bitchy option.

“I think I’ve decided. I want Roan and Echo to come on this date,” she announced, watching Echo’s giddy reaction. “The other couple will be Bellamy and…” she watched Echo’s face drop at the realization that she would have to be around both Bellamy and Roan on this “special” date. Now, Anya just needed to think of someone to pair Bellamy with that would piss off Echo. He hasn’t flirted with anyone else, really. So, it would be best to just pick someone Echo hates. “Clarke.”

Everyone looked at Anya like she was insane. Maybe she was. Anya doesn’t think of herself as someone who likes drama. But, she does like vengeance. Getting a front row seat to Echo being on a triple date with the two people in the house who hate her the most is exactly what she needed to get through this week.

 

_Clarke_

“Try not to smile too much, princess,” Bellamy whispered in her ear. They were currently hiking with the other two couples on their “special” date. Clarke kept a quick pace and Bellamy stuck to her side, leaving the other couples straggling far behind.

“Stop calling me that,” she snapped. “Why aren’t you more pissed off? You should be at least half as furious as I am.”

“I think I should be more pissed. I have to watch the girl I like make heart eyes at another guy all day while the girl I hate is practically sprinting up this mountain in an attempt to make this date go by faster,” he said, starting to run out of breath. Clarke slowed her pace a little so that Bellamy didn’t have to kill himself to keep up. “Why are you so pissed? Heartbroken without your prince?”

“Wells? I would not call him my prince.” Clarke liked Wells. He was nice to her and they got along really well. But, there was no actual spark. She could see them being matched in the game but it could just be a platonic match. There were a lot of those last season. “I’m pissed because Anya threw away a truth booth with these stupid pairings.”

“What? You mean you don’t think you are my soulmate? At least wait until this date is over to break my heart.” Oh God, she wished there weren’t cameras around so she could break his nose.

“You and I are here to ruin Echo’s day. That’s literally what Anya told me last night.” She rolled her eyes. Then, Bellamy grabbed her hand and kept holding it. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Trying to ruin Echo’s day. Something tells me that she is the jealous type.” Clarke didn’t let go of his hand because, obviously, she hates Bellamy less than she hates Echo. He kept looking forward, avoiding her eyes.

“You know, they aren’t a match.”

“How could you possibly know that?” He looked at Clarke, brows furrowed.

“He’s so chill and she’s so not. Plus, we’re all on this show because we’re bad at love. So it’s not likely that any of us will get it right on the first try.”

Clarke and Bellamy are the first ones to reach the top. The view was so incredible from up there. She could see their house over by the beach and shrieks when she thought she saw a dolphin jump in the water. Bellamy laughs at her as he sits down by the ledge next to her. They were pretty far ahead of the other couples. Clarke figured it would take them another twenty to thirty minutes to reach the top. She pulled out her pencils and sketchbook and started drawing the flowers that were sitting next to her. Bellamy laid down on his back with his arm over his eyes, ignoring Clarke.

She was right. Anya and Bryan didn’t show up for another twenty minutes. Then, they waited for Roan and Echo for an additional fifteen minutes. Clarke hardly noticed the time go by as she worked on shading the flowers’ petals.

“Holy shit, Clarke. That’s amazing. Are you like an artist or something?” Clarke looked up and saw Roan standing over her, staring at her sketchbook.

“Oh no. This is just a hobby.” By now, Anya and Bryan came over to look at her sketch. “I was just killing time while you guys got up here. Bellamy and I kinda rushed through the hike.”

Bellamy finally sat up to look at what everyone was fussing over. Clarke couldn’t read his expression, as he just blankly stared at her drawing.

“Please tell me it’s time to eat. I’m starving,” she heard Echo say somewhere behind her. Clarke quickly closed her sketchbook and went over to the picnic baskets by Echo.

Lunch went pretty smoothly, much to Clarke’s surprise. Bellamy stuck to talking to Bryan and Anya. Clarke pretended to be involved in Roan and Echo’s conversation, just to avoid looking awkward. She couldn’t focus. She couldn’t stop feeling like she didn’t belong there. She never asked to be put on this show. Her mom was trying to help her get back out there. But, this was the wrong way to do it. The only person she really knows in this house is Wells, and he is making her feel claustrophobic. Now, she’s on a date with someone who hates her just to piss off another person who hates her. Clarke didn’t want to start a feud with Echo. She just wanted to stand up for Harper.

The hike back took less time. They all stuck together. Apparently, Bryan and Bellamy bonded at lunch over picking fights in school. Now, they won’t stop quoting lines from Zoolander. Well, Clarke thought, at least something good came out of this stupid trip.

“You okay?” Roan asked.

“Yeah of course,” she replied.

“It’s okay if you’re not, you know.” This caught Clarke off guard. Did Roan care about her? Or is he just being a decent human being? Either option surprised Clarke. She just assumed anyone who was with someone like Echo much be just like Echo. Maybe she misread him. It wouldn’t be the first time and it won’t be the last.

 

_Bellamy_

 

“Of fucking course they were voted into the truth booth,” Bellamy grumbled to Miller. He already had to watch them be all over each other on their group date. Now, he had to watch them freak out about being a perfect match. Well, worst case scenario is that they are a perfect match and then they leave the house for good and he never has to see her again.

“Who did you think we would vote for? You and Clarke have barely uttered two words to each other and Bryan and Anya are definitely not a match.”

“You’re just saying that because you want to be Bryan’s match.”

“Shut up.” Bellamy slumped down, waiting for Echo and Roan to return from the truth booth. Did it take this long last week? They should have been back by now. He then noticed his sister cuddled up with someone new.

“What happened while I was gone?” he asked Miller while glaring at Lincoln and Octavia.

Miller followed his eyes before sighing. “They went on their own little date today. They made a little blanket fort upstairs. It was cute. Please tell me you’re not going to go all overprotective brother on us.”

Bellamy groaned. “No. Not yet, at least.” At least she looked like she was enjoying herself. She fit in well with Jasper and Monty, always laughing and smiling. He made a mental note to keep an eye on Lincoln, though.

Roan and Echo walked slowly back into the living room.

“Well? Is it going to be a June wedding?” Monty shouted. He might have been a little drunk, but Bellamy wasn't sure. It seemed like everyone in this house liked to be hammered all the time.

“We weren’t a match,” Echo stated, without any real indication of how she felt about that. Holy shit, Bellamy realized, Clarke was right. He looked over at her, stuffed between Wells and Finn. She just smirked at him as if to say, “I told you so.” God, he couldn’t stand Clarke Griffin. But, he might just have to start listening to her.

Everyone in the room acted so disappointed, hugging both of them to reassure them that it would all be okay. Bellamy went into his room for a while, not wanting to pretend to be upset about them not being a match.

After an hour or so, he came back downstairs to see that another party had broken out. He didn’t see Echo anywhere, which he assumed to be for the best. Miller and Monty were on the couch, having what looked like a very serious conversation. Emori and Murphy were on the bench in the hallway making out. Maybe they were the perfect match from last week, he wondered. He couldn’t find Octavia or Lincoln, which he did not find comforting. Clarke and Roan were in the kitchen when Bellamy entered. He went straight to the fridge to find a beer.

“No, she’s not dead. Are you sure we’re talking about the same book?” he heard Clarke ask while he pulled out the milk to see if the beer was behind it.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry. That happens in the third book. I forgot,” Roan replied.

“Damnit, Roan. I told you I haven’t read the third book. Spoilers, man.” Well, at least something good came out of the triple date from hell. This could be an adorable friendship. “I kind of hate you right now. Ugh. Fuck me.”

“I’m trying to.” Bellamy bumped his head on the shelf before standing up and shutting the door. Holy shit, that was the smoothest thing he’d ever heard. Clarke blushed and struggled with a response while Bellamy tried to get out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. No wonder Echo went for Roan early on. He was so direct.

Bellamy started heading back up to his room, only to see Echo sitting on his bed, waiting for him. This ought to be good, he thought.

 

_Finn_

 

Raven held his hand as they walked into the match up ceremony. He had become very anxious about this ceremony over the last few hours. It wasn’t that he wasn’t sure Raven was his match. He had been so sure. But, he kept seeing Murphy and Emori snuggled up together throughout the day. They also think they’re a perfect match, he realized. If they are right, that means Raven is not Finn’s match.

He started to second-guess how quickly he fell into this relationship with her. She was perfect, truly. But, he didn’t bother to get to know anyone else in this house. What if someone was more perfect? These were the things running through Finn’s head as Kane reminded the audience how the ceremony worked.

When the ceremony started, Emori chose Murphy and Lincoln chose Octavia. Roan, then, chose Clarke. That choice sparked a bunch of whispers from the remaining contestants.

“Didn’t they sleep together last night?” Luna asked.

“No, but good God he tried,” Bellamy answered. Finn looked up and saw a relieved expression from Echo. Frankly, Finn found that pairing random. If Clarke wasn’t interested in Roan and didn’t seem interested in Wells, who was she actually pursuing?

Lexa chose Harper. Luna chose Jasper. And, of course, Raven chose Finn.

“You two seem like you’re getting really close. Do you guys think you’re each other’s perfect match?” Kane asked.

“Of course. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted,” Finn replied as Raven leaned her head against his shoulder. Finn knows that he meant what he said. But, there’s a small voice inside of him that’s making him wonder if he will always mean it.

Maya chose Wells. Monty chose Miller. Bellamy chose Echo. That one got a lot of reactions from the rest of the group.

“May I ask what happened between you two?” Kane asked, clearly as confused as the rest of them.

“We talked a lot last night after the truth booth and we decided that we needed a fresh start,” Echo answered.

“Yeah. Honestly, I was upset about what happened with her and Roan, but it’s hard to stay upset about it when I’ve seen how smooth he is. Like, I almost want to have a go at him,” Bellamy joked. That got a laugh out of almost everyone.

“Hate to break your heart, Bellamy, but I’m spoken for,” Roan shouted back, putting his arm around Clarke and pulling her closer. She didn’t seem to mind, Finn observed. But, she didn’t seem enthusiastic.

Once Anya and Bryan locked in their match, the group sat while Kane reexplained how the light beams worked. Finn didn’t feel good about this match ceremony. A lot of these matches seemed random to him. He knew they would get at least one beam because of either him and Raven or Murphy and Emori.

In the end, they got two beams. He heard Wells say over and over that at least it was an improvement from last week. The only person who humored him was Roan. Everyone else grumbled back to their rooms, knowing that they were all doing something wrong.


	3. Something Beautiful Can Come from a Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next one will contain some references to anxiety and panic attacks.

_Murphy_

 

Murphy didn’t care for most of the people in this house, he thought. Emori was sitting on the counter, watching Murphy throw away the beer bottles that their housemates had just left out. She giggled every time he let out a _are you fucking kidding me_ from finding more trash around the kitchen.

“Should I start calling you Mr. Clean?” she asked, pulling Murphy by his hand toward her. He tried to hold back a laugh at her lame attempt at a joke.

“I just don’t think it’s too much to ask that people pick up after themselves, okay?” he responded, harshly. Murphy looked over to living room, where almost everyone in the house was gathered. “Besides, I don’t even look like Mr. Clean. So, work on your lame one-liners.”

She gripped his face before pulling him in for a kiss. “That’s too bad because I totally had a thing for Mr. Clean growing up,” she said with a completely straight face. That was enough for Murphy to break, leaning over the counter in an attempt to get his laughter under control.

“Hey guys, we’re talking this week’s strategy in the living room. You should join,” Lexa interrupted before turning around to head back toward the couch. Murphy sighed, wondering why he and Emori couldn’t have more than five minutes alone before getting interrupted. Emori jumped off the counter and pulled him by the wrist.

“Emori,” Murphy groaned. “You know I don’t like people.” Murphy was not ready for whatever drama would ignite over this “strategy session.”

“Yeah,” Emori said while smiling, “but you adore me.” And that was all it took for Murphy to stop resisting and to sit curled up with her on the floor, with his back to the coffee table.

The usual couples were still sitting together, he noticed. Bellamy sat next to him, with Echo not too far away.

“All we have to do is figure out who the one match was from the first night,” Clarke explained. “If we find that couple and put them in the truth booth, then the rest of us know that whoever we sat next to that night was not our match. It’s an easy way to give everybody one free truth booth.” Murphy heard a couple people agreeing with her. It was a good strategy, he thought. But, he and Emori were matched that night. If the house found a different pair that were a perfect match, it would mean they weren’t a perfect match.

“Okay, but there were a lot of pairings that could totally be matches from that night. How are we supposed to figure out which one is correct?” Wells asked. Murphy rolled his eyes. There weren’t that many believable pairings. Wells probably didn’t want Clarke to throw out the possibility that they were matches. Murphy looked around the room. Monty and Miller were sitting together but not in a couple-y kind of way. They got along fine, Murphy remembered. But, it didn’t seem like anything more than a friendship to him.

“Not really. There are only really three couples that look like a match. Echo and Bellamy, Murphy and Emori, and Raven and Finn,” Anya noted. Oh cool, they made the list. Most of the house grumbled in agreement. Emori tucked her head under chin.

“I vote we put Raven and Finn in the truth booth,” Clarke argues. “They’re pretty consistent and it would be better for the whole house if we knew once and for all if they were a match.” Murphy suddenly felt like there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room. He tried to control his breathing. Emori looked up at him, before kissing him on the cheek to try and calm him down. Murphy didn’t want Raven and Finn in the truth booth, he realized. If anyone in this house was a perfect match, it was probably them. He looked back at Emori, realizing that she might not want to still be with him if they found out they weren’t a perfect match. He didn’t care, personally. The compatibility tests for this show were dumb and he already knew he found who he wanted to be with.

He could have tried to argue with Clarke, could have suggested that he and Emori were just as likely to be matches. But, he knew that would never work. He and Emori didn’t really have other friends in this house. There was no one who would support them on this. He looked to his left, seeing Bellamy clench his jaw. Clearly, he wasn’t a fan of this plan either.

While everyone in the room talked over each other about this plan, Murphy leaned in to whisper in Bellamy’s ear, “Doesn’t it just piss you off that she thinks she’s running this?” As Bellamy nodded in response, Murphy realized that he might have a way to stop Raven and Finn from going into the truth booth.

“What makes you think that they’re the best match?” Bellamy stood up and crossed his arms, while Clarke looked up at him, surprised at his tone.

“What, do you think you and Echo are the one match from that night?” Clarke asked, with a sharpness in her voice that Murphy wasn’t used to. She had always come off as super chill to him. Sometimes she had the mom vibe, but generally she was easy-going.

“Of course I do. That’s why I picked her tonight. You can’t just assume that everyone in the house would agree with you,” Bellamy spat back.

Emori leaned up to look at Murphy, before whispering, “Is there a reason you decided to start shit?”

Murphy chuckled in response. “Because I could,” he whispered back before kissing her cheek.

“Raven and I have been consistently together. You and Echo have been the source of all the drama in this house so far. Excuse us if we don’t think that makes you a healthy match,” Finn jumped up, defending Clarke. He could hear other people going back and forth, arguing between the two couples. He wondered, didn’t anyone think he and Emori could be the match?

“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to the princess who thinks she can control what we do.” Finn took a big step backwards, toward Raven. Echo was surprisingly quiet during this fight. Probably trying to lay low after being accused of starting drama, Murphy thought.

“Stop calling me that. And it’s a good strategy. What would you have us do?” Clarke did have a point. There was no way Bellamy and Echo were a match and everyone in the house knew it.

Bellamy just smirked at her before saying, “Whatever the hell we want.” That got a few cheers from the area that Harper and Luna were sitting in.

Clarke walked toward Bellamy, face hot pink from anger. He towered over her, not breaking his glare. “How about we let them vote?” she asked, not breaking eye contact. Bellamy’s jaw twitched before muttering “fine.” She smirked at him, probably knowing full well that there were not enough people in the house who thought Bellamy and Echo were a match to vote for them. And, she was right. Damnit, Murphy realized.

 

_Octavia_

 

Lincoln had his hands cupped on her shoulders as his chin rested atop her head. The group was waiting on Kane to get out of the way for the challenge to start.

“We could have totally won this challenge,” Lincoln whispered into her ear before kissing her cheek. Octavia agreed. But, the group decided to throw this challenge so that Raven and Finn could win and go to the truth booth. It’s what Octavia voted for, she reminded herself.

The challenge this week was an obstacle course. One person was blind-folded while they carried their partner on their back, who, in turn, would be giving the blind-folded partner directions. Kane went on a rant about how this was a test for how well couples communicated, but Octavia tuned him out as soon as she remembered that the group was throwing the challenge. Only one couple got to go on the date this time, Kane announced before the challenge started.

When Kane said go, Raven and Finn took off, doing a decent job of not running into anything. Octavia kept giving Lincoln ridiculous instructions like to turn around or take three steps backwards.

“That doesn’t make any sense Octavia. I have a good enough sense of direction to know that I am not even walking in the direction of the finish line,” Lincoln said jokingly.

“Hey, this is a test in communication. Don’t get snippy with me, sir,” she replied.

“This is a test, alright. Look at everything I’m doing, knowing full well that you are wrong.” Octavia laughed, before burying her face into his neck. “Oh God, now you’re not even looking. I could run into something and get hurt.” She couldn’t stop giggling at this point.

“You’re still following my instructions. Even though you know they’re wrong.”

“Of course I am. I’d do any dumb thing you wanted if it made you smile.” Octavia buried her face back into his neck, hiding her blushing face from the rest of the group. “Are you smiling? You have to tell me because I can’t see for myself at the moment.”

“I’m always smiling when I’m with you.”

“And Raven and Finn are the winners!” she heard Kane announce before jumping down from Lincoln’s back. She looked around. Most of the group was still pretty close to the starting line. She looked for her brother, knowing how pissed he would be about Raven and Finn going to the truth booth. She spotted him and Echo, both looking about as furious as Octavia had expected. What Octavia did not expect was how close they ended up to the finish line.

Lincoln noticed her expression and followed her gaze before groaning. “Did they go ahead and try to win anyway?” he asked.

“Of course they did,” Octavia groaned. She should have seen this coming. He was too quiet once the house voted for Raven and Finn. If he wasn’t careful, Octavia thought, he could ruin the whole game. She looked over at Clarke. She was talking to Lexa, clearly aware of what Bellamy was doing. Everyone else seemed oblivious, however. Clarke didn’t bring attention to what happened when other people were around. She didn’t seem to like being in the middle of drama, Octavia thought. She was just strategic and only got involved if it made sense for the game.

Bellamy sulked in the back of the group walking toward the house. Clarke slowed her pace down, Octavia observed, so she did the same. If Clarke was going to confront Bellamy, she wanted to see what actually went down.

When Clarke was finally walking in step with Bellamy, she said, “If you hadn’t stumbled on that cone, you probably would have won,” before walking away. She didn’t use a confrontational tone. She just wanted to make sure he knew that she knew. She then linked arms with Lexa before heading into the house. Octavia went up to her brother once Clarke was out of sight.

“Is this how the next eight weeks are going to go?” she asked, stepping in front of him. He looked at her for a moment, contemplating his response. It was like he knew he did the wrong thing but was too stubborn to admit it. Octavia knew that there was no way Bellamy really thought his match was Echo. But, he won’t admit to being wrong. He was just going to keep doubling down on his mistakes, just like always.

 

_Monty_

 

Jasper couldn’t shuffle cards correctly. It was driving Monty insane. Jasper kept fumbling with the deck, constantly dropping cards, before finally spreading them all out on the table and mixing them up that way. Miller thought it was hilarious. Monty just wanted to bang his head into the table.

The house had been pretty calm that day, he noted. Raven and Finn would come back any minute now from their date. A bunch of the girls were upstairs doing each other’s nails, or something like that. A lot of guys went on a walk about an hour ago, probably feeling a little bit stir crazy. Monty was sitting at the kitchen table with Miller and Jasper, trying to think of a fourth person to join them for a game of spoons.

Harper came over to the table and plopped down next to Jasper. Her hair was all fancily braided, with a crown braid atop her head. “Yeah, Maya had a whole Pinterest board full of hairstyles she wanted to try,” she explained.

“Wanna play spoons with us?” Jasper asked.

“Oh fuck yes. That sounds so much better than listening to Anya and Lexa argue about strategy,” she replied, clearly relieved. It was exhausting to constantly be strategizing about the game, Monty realized. It was, after all, a game. Sure, strategy will help you win. But, they were all here for love. He wondered, can you really plan how to fall in love? Monty liked hanging out with Miller and he kept choosing him as his match. But, nothing really seemed to be happening with them. Maybe it was time to look into other people in the house.

“Give me the damn cards,” Monty said, taking them from Jasper’s hands. He shuffled quickly before slapping the deck back on the table.

“Woah, you’re really good at that. I don’t even know how to shuffle,” Harper said.

“I could teach you,” he responded, watching her smile softly at him.

 

_Bellamy_

Kane would not shut up about how important this truth booth is for us. Bellamy tried to tune him out. He sat behind the couch, in a kitchen chair he had pulled up. He didn’t want to be too close to anyone, in case he started muttering to himself. Since they got back, Raven and Finn wouldn’t shut up about how romantic their date was. It was annoying as hell. If he had to hear Finn say, “I know we were supposed to be looking at the fish, but I just couldn’t stop looking at her” one more time, Bellamy was going to break his jaw. Did Finn even realize how cheesy he was being? Was that just something he was doing for the cameras? There was no way he could be that sincere about someone he has known for less than three weeks.

When they got up to go to the truth booth, Octavia started pouring everyone shots.

“O, I really don’t think this house needs any more nights of drinking.”

“It’s a celebration shot. We are getting our first perfect match tonight!” she said, skipping over toward Lincoln to hand him a glass. “And then,” she continued in her best Marcus Kane imitation, “we will be one step closer toward… one. million. DOLLARS!” Everyone started laughing as they raised their glasses up to take a shot.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Echo argued.

“You’re just mad because you lost the challenge,” Lexa spat at her.

“Wasn’t that what we were all supposed to do?” Jasper asked.

“Yeah we were, but Echo and Bellamy still tried to win,” Lexa said smugly. And there it was. Bellamy had been hopeful that this wouldn’t become a thing. Clarke didn’t make a big deal out of it, so he assumed the rest of the house would follow her lead.

“What the hell, guys? We fucking agreed,” Miller snapped, angling his glare toward Bellamy. Great. Now, his closest friend in the house was turning on him. The room erupted in outraged accusations. Octavia shrunk down in her seat with Lincoln. Monty and Miller were arguing over whether or not this was a big deal. Echo was trying to defend herself to Maya and Harper.

“Like I expected this out of Echo, but not Bellamy,” he heard Wells say to Clarke. She looked up and made eye contact with Bellamy. He swallowed, as he tried to read her facial expression. She almost looked… sorry. No, that couldn’t be it, he thought. She hadn’t done anything wrong. He screwed up and was being called out on it. Clarke didn’t start this.

“Guys, we are all bad at love. That’s why we’re on the show.” Everyone stopped their arguing and looked at Clarke as she spoke. She clearly hadn’t expected that to quiet everyone. She hesitated before she began speaking again. “They think they’re a match and so they fought for it. Sure, it wasn’t what we agreed on. But, we can’t exactly blame them for doing what all of us would probably do if we thought we had found our match.” A couple of people nodded in agreement. Bellamy saw Lincoln smile at Octavia out of the corner of his eye. Lexa opened her mouth as if she was going to argue, before looking around at everyone else’s reaction, and leaning back into her chair.

Clarke sat back down next to Wells and glanced over toward Bellamy. He mouthed a thank you in her direction, before looking down at his empty glass. He saw Murphy out of the corner of his eye, biting his nails nervously. He wondered what Murphy was so worked up about. He seemed pretty indifferent toward this game and everyone here… well, everyone except Emori.

Oh, Bellamy realized. If Raven and Finn are a match, Murphy and Emori will be separated. Bellamy reaches over to pat Murphy on the back. Murphy seemed confused by Bellamy’s attempt at comforting him. Maybe he should make a better effort to befriend Murphy. He isn’t just some sarcastic asshole who hates everyone in this house. He’s in this house because he’s trying to find a match and is terrified that it isn’t the girl sitting next to him. Bellamy had secretly hoped that Raven and Finn were a match, if only because that would mean he was not a match with Echo. But, if they are, Murphy will be devastated. And if they aren’t, they will be devastated. No matter what happens, someone is getting their heart broken tonight.

Everyone was pretty settled down now, despite constantly looking at the clock, wondering where Finn and Raven are. They should have been back by now. When the door finally opened, both of them looked like they had been crying for days. Oh God, he realized as he suddenly started feeling sick to his stomach, if they aren’t a match, that means he could still be matched with Echo.

 

_Finn_

“It’s just a game,” he whispered to Raven. Most of the house had already gone to bed. No one wanted to hang out after finding out Raven and Finn were not a match. Earlier, once everyone stopped gushing over how devastated they were about it, Lexa and Anya started talking strategy again, forming a plan for the next night’s ceremony. Octavia cried quietly into Lincoln’s chest. Finn tried to ignore the giddy look on Echo and Emori’s faces. Clarke and Bellamy both left the room immediately in different directions, probably furious that their battle of wits yielded no positive results.

“I know. And the game doesn’t change what we have,” she replied into her pillow. She had stopped crying a while ago but still wanted Finn by her side until she fell asleep.

“But, we still have to play the game if we want to win. So we’re going to walk this off and keep going, okay?” He regretted a lot of what he had told Raven in the last few days. He kept saying that them being a match didn’t matter to him. But, he knew that was a lie. He cared about her, but he also fell so quickly for her that he didn’t pay attention to anyone else. He just hoped that she was realizing the same thing.

“Okay.” She finally closed her eyes and, within minutes, drifted off to sleep. He walked back downstairs to see if anyone was still up. He spotted Clarke sitting on the floor of the hallway with her back pressed up against the wall. She had her sketchbook out and seemed lost in what she was doing. Without thinking, he sat down beside her.

She didn’t notice for a while, too engrossed in her sketch of a man he didn’t recognize.

“Oh hey,” she said when she finally noticed him. “I’m sorry about you and Raven,” she added after a moment.

Finn nodded before pressing his lips together. The house was so quiet and the only thing he heard was the sound of Clarke’s pencil on her drawing. “It’s okay. We only just met. I guess it was kind of stupid to go all in this early.” He looked down at his hands as he said this.

“Stupid, yeah. But, love is stupid. So, it’s not your fault.” He forced a small chuckle at that.

“I have no idea who to choose tomorrow night. I haven’t spent any time with anyone except Raven this whole time. And I’m scared I’ll pick someone who is already with someone else in the house and accidentally start a fight like Harper did.”

“I feel that way every week. Like my anxiety has been stressing me out about it all day. I don’t want to pick someone I’ve already been with just for the sake of strategy, but I also don’t want it to be random. You know?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. “Wanna be my match for tomorrow?”

“That is the very definition of random.”

“No, it’s not. We are having a conversation at two in the morning when everyone else is in bed. I don’t have a match. You don’t have a match. We both share anxiety about tomorrow night. Look at how much we have in common,” he laughed to himself.

“No offense, but I’m not even sure I like you,” she said, smiling at him and putting her sketchbook away.

“But, you totally could. Admit it. I’m charming as hell,” he said, leaning closer to her. She looked up at him with a face he couldn’t entirely read. She really was pretty, not in the way that Raven was, but in a softer way. But, she also just looked sad. He imagined that she would look so beautiful if she could feel happy.

“You’re okay, I guess,” she smirked back at him. What the hell, he thought, and leaned in and kissed her. It was a soft, chaste, little kiss. Not a lot of emotion put behind it from either one of them, he noticed. Maybe it was just because he was recovering from Raven or because he and Clarke hardly knew each other. She pulled away immediately with a deer in the headlights look. She muttered something about how late it was and scrambled to her feet before heading upstairs. Finn just sat there for a few minutes, processing what just happened. Yeah, he thought, that was probably a mistake. But maybe, just maybe, it was the right kind of mistake.

 

_Maya_

Miller chose Monty, like always. Bryan chose Luna. The ceremony seemed to drag on even longer than last week. Kane stopped each match to ask them questions about how they’re doing. Maya didn’t mind it with these easy pairings… but she dreaded the moment that the more dramatic people were called up to pick their match.

“Next up, Finn,” Kane announced enthusiastically. “So, Finn, you have had an emotional week, it seems. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing alright, Marcus. Raven and I had a talk. I have a feeling that everything is going to work itself out,” he announced confidently. Huh, Maya thought, that is weird. He should be more upset, given how Raven was doing tonight.

“That’s good to hear, Finn. So, who is your match going to be?”

“Tonight, my match is Clarke,” he declared, looking back toward the rest of the contestants.

“That is so random,” Maya muttered to the rest of the contestants.

“No, it’s not. I saw them kissing last night when I got up to use the bathroom,” Miller whispered back.

“What?” Raven shouted. Kane, Finn, and Clarke all turned around to look back at her. “You kissed Clarke last night?” she demanded, holding back tears.

“It was one kiss. Literally just a peck and nothing else, I swear,” Finn said defensively. Maya could practically feel the rest of the room holding in its breath. Raven just stood there, shaking her head, trying to figure out how to respond to that. “We agreed that we would move on and keep playing the game, Raven. That’s all I was trying to do.”

“We never agreed to that. We said that who our match was didn’t matter but we would still try to help find them for the rest of the house. You said this was real, regardless of if we were officially each other’s perfect match,” she practically shouted, trying to keep back her tears as her face grew redder and redder.

“Clarke, how do you feel about this situation?” Kane asked, changing the subject slightly. Maya looked around at the rest of the contestants. A lot of them looked uncomfortable. A few were trying to comfort Raven. Then, she saw Anya and Lexa give each other a frustrated look. Oh right, Maya remembered, they had a strategy for this ceremony that just got thrown out the window. Maya was supposed to pick Finn and Lexa was supposed to pick Clarke.

“Clarke?” Finn asked, with a concerned look on his face. Kane also looked worried and proceeded to share a glance with the producer before finally the cameras stopped and Clarke was guided away from the ceremony. Wells and Lexa followed her while the crew told us we were going to take a little break before resuming the ceremony.

It took at least twenty minutes for Wells and Lexa to come back without Clarke. “She kept shaking and said she couldn’t breathe,” Wells explained, looking terrified.

“We think she started having a panic attack,” Lexa elaborated. “She’s going to stay in her room while we finish the ceremony and hopefully she will be better by the time we get back to the house.”

Eventually, Kane started the ceremony again. He kept trying to keep the atmosphere light, occasionally asking questions that might inspire a dramatic argument. But, no one really felt like being at the match ceremony. They were all too busy worrying about Clarke and Raven.

Wells chose Raven, and she struggled through the conversation with Kane about their potential match. She was still shaken by what Finn had done and could hardly form complete sentences when responding to Kane.

Echo chose Bellamy, which he apparently was not pleased about. Kane kept probing them with questions about what has changed in their relationship, but Bellamy wouldn’t bite. Octavia chose Lincoln. Harper chose Roan, which Maya thought was really random until she remembered how the strategy for the night got messed up when Finn chose Clarke. Murphy chose Emori. Anya chose Lexa, which Maya could totally see. Sure, that wasn’t the plan. But, they were both really strategically minded and kind of looked fierce standing side by side. Finally, Jasper chose Maya.

She knew this match only happened because they were the last two standing. But, she couldn’t help but wonder why this match didn’t happen sooner. Jasper was cute and sweet. This could totally be her match, she realized. Despite how horrible the evening had turned out, Maya smiled to herself, hoping that at least something beautiful came out of this disaster.

They had gotten four perfect matches that week. That was more than they had ever gotten and they should be celebrating. But, no one was really in the mood after what went down between Raven, Finn, and Clarke. She could hear Raven and Finn yelling at each other outside by the pool. Bellamy, Miller, Murphy, and Roan started playing some dumb drinking game. Maya chose to spend her evening cuddled up in her bed, whispering to Jasper from across the room. They whispered until four in the morning, when she finally heard Jasper’s light snoring. Something beautiful can come from a disaster, she told herself.


	4. The Eye of the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again, there are several references to panic attacks in this chapter.

_Roan_

“Do you feel like this house has taken a really dark turn?” Roan asked Luna as he went to flip over the burger patties. They were the only ones out on the back patio at the moment, with most people broken off into smaller groups in different areas of the house.

“Are you just now noticing this?” she responded, sipping out of her glass.

“Yeah. Like, there was drama before, sure. But, the other night was next level drama.” It had been three days since the match up ceremony where Raven found out that Finn moved on that quickly.

“It was bound to happen eventually. Haven’t you watched this show before?” Roan glanced inside the house, seeing Finn and Wells having a bit of a confrontation in the kitchen. Luna followed his gaze, only to sigh when she saw them shouting at each other, waving their hands at each other as if it could make the other see reason. “They’re fighting over Clarke.”

“What? Why?” Roan focused his attention back to the grill. Clarke was a great girl, sure. Probably his closest friend in the house if he was being honest. But, she had been very clear that she was not interested in Finn or Wells. What is with people in this house when it comes to accepting rejection? Roan himself was briefly interested in Clarke earlier in the competition, but when she told him she didn’t really want to start anything just yet, he backed off.

“It’s not like that. Finn won’t leave Clarke alone and Wells has taken it upon himself to make sure he stays away from her. It’s actually kind of sweet.”

“Do you know how Clarke is doing? I hardly see her around anymore.”

“She’s much better.” Luna had been spending a lot of time with Clarke since she was the person in the house who knew the most about panic attacks. Roan vaguely remembered her mentioning her brother or sister had a lot of episodes like what Clarke had. “Lexa has been sleeping in her room every night since the match up ceremony. She hasn’t had any more attacks since, but she gets really uncomfortable when Finn is around.”

Roan sighed. “She isn’t the only one,” he responded. He thought back to how he and Raven had yelled at each other after the match up ceremony. Echo was really freaked out by how intensely they were fighting, worried they might hurt each other. Roan and Bryan kept watch of the situation, to make sure everyone involved was safe. Nothing happened, just a lot of swearing and crying. Roan tried to put that night out of his head. “How are you doing, anyway?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

“Trapped in a house with strangers without a clue who my perfect match is. You?”

“Same. Except I get to know for a fact that Echo is not my match.”

“Trust me, the rest of the house is very jealous of that fact.” They both laughed before Luna left to tell everyone that the burgers were almost done. Only six more weeks, he kept telling himself.

 

_Wells_

Wells really hated it when Anya and Lexa plotted together. Their alleged “strategy” skills got them a bunch of random pairings last week and now it’s going to start more drama. Things had been relatively calm since the match up ceremony last week, mainly because the people who typically start fights have all been avoiding each other. Wells knew this wouldn’t last, but he was enjoying the eye of the storm. He wasn’t ready for it to be over just because Lexa and Anya came up with a new scheme.

“Basically, this is going to be like speed dating. We will have a timer going so that each pair only gets to talk for three minutes before switching off to the next person,” Lexa explained. He heard Finn groan behind him, and Wells nodded in agreement. He had already tried speed dating back home. If it had been effective, he wouldn’t be here.

“Our biggest problem is that people keep pairing off too quickly without really getting to know their other options. This way, everybody gets one on one time with everyone and hopefully can inspire some new matches so that we can get more perfect matches this week,” Anya furthered. Octavia was walking around the room, refilling everyone’s drink. Oh good, Wells thought, there is no way he could make it through this sober. He kept looking around the room. There were a few people missing, he noticed. Clarke didn’t come downstairs for this allegedly mandatory gathering, not that he could blame her. Maya and Jasper were also missing, but that was probably for the best. Last time he had seen them, they were sharing a set of headphones and sitting very close together, but not touching. They’re way too obsessed with each other to even care about the game at the moment, Wells thought. Who else were they missing, he wondered.

Oh, Raven. That made sense. She was probably avoiding the drama and Finn, just like Clarke.

The first person to sit in front of him was Bellamy, who avoiding making actual conversation during their entire three minutes. Wells kept asking him about his life and his interests and somehow he managed to dodge and redirect every question.

Next, he had Harper, who he always thought was super sweet. They had a nice conversation about how awkward spring is. Sure, it was small talk. But, it was also cathartic to vent about never knowing how to dress for the weather.

Then, Bryan sat down in front of him, with a look on his face that screamed he knew something that he wasn’t supposed to.

“Spill right now,” Wells demanded. Bryan and he had a hard time making conversation early on in the game. But, then they discovered their mutual love of gossip. Now, they can’t stop speculating on the rest of the house and comparing rumors.

“I promised I wouldn’t say anything,” he whispered. Wells glared at him, knowing full well that Bryan cannot keep a secret to save his life. “Okay, but you can’t say anything to anyone. Raven hooked up with Bellamy last night.”

“Holy fuck!” Wells blurted out a little too loudly. Lincoln shot him a confused look, but everyone else seemed to ignore the outburst. He started whispering, “How did you find out?”

“Well, you know how there’s that one room that only has one bed in it and that’s where people go to, uh, you know?” He nodded frantically, secretly hoping that someone walked in on them. “Murphy and Emori were going to sneak in there last night. It was right after Lexa slapped Finn but before Monty drunkenly fell off the counter.”

“Okay, enough back story. What actually happened?”

“Murphy heard them through the door. He said that he heard someone yelling Bellamy’s name but couldn’t figure out who. So, he waited nearby and saw Raven coming out of that room not too long after.”

“Does Echo or Finn know?” Neither one of them could really get mad, he thought. But, they are the last two people in this house that he wanted to get upset. When they get mad, shit goes down.

“Not yet,” Bryan smirked. Wells knew that look too well. Oh God, he realized. Nothing in the house stays secret for long. This will not end well. So much for the eye of the storm.

 

_Clarke_

When she woke up, everyone else was already up and out of the bedroom. She had hoped Lexa would have stayed until she woke up. Last night, Lexa had come back into the room kind of drunk, and slipped into Clarke’s bed, snuggling close to her. It had been so comfortable, Clarke thought.

She got up and started to brush her teeth, then her hair. She had been feeling nervous about the challenge that day, knowing that whatever strategic decision Lexa and Anya have will likely start another fight. Whatever, she was done making those kinds of decisions. The Finn and Raven experiment blew up in her face and she didn’t have it in her to try again. Then, she heard a knock on her door.

Please don’t be Finn, she thought to herself. Remember to breathe, she said over and over again in her head. But, it wasn’t Finn. It was Bellamy.

“Clarke, how are you doing?” he asked, seeming to be genuinely curious.

“I’m fine. What do you need?” She sat down on the edge of her bed as he shut the door behind him.

“Can’t I just come check on the princess?” he smirked.

“You could, but we both know that’s not why you’re here.”

“Okay, I need your help.” Now, Clarke was curious. Bellamy had never asked for her help before. “We need to do something about Anya and Lexa’s strategy. It’s not working.”

“They messed up last week. They didn’t take the Finn factor into consideration and figured everyone would just stick to the plan. It could have worked.”

“You can’t honestly believe that.” He had a point. She didn’t believe it. They couldn’t win the game by just trying out random matches and hoping that they got higher numbers of matches each week.

“Look, I’m done playing master strategist. I tried it and got hurt badly because of it.”

“Finn was not your fault. We all thought they were a match and what happened afterwards was due to a miscommunication between Raven and Finn. But, your plan was solid and I think we should try it again.”

“You fought me on that plan!” Clarke shouted, before realizing how loud she was getting. She didn’t want anyone nearby to overhear and worry about her. Everyone had been so sweet to her after the last match up ceremony, even Raven, surprisingly. She didn’t need to freak them all out again.

“Yes, because I didn’t want to admit you were right. But you were. You just picked the wrong couple. We need to get Emori and Murphy in the truth booth this week. Then, everyone gets an automatic truth booth and will stop messing around with their first week matches.”

“Are you sure about them?”

“Yes,” he said before sitting down next to Clarke, putting his head in his hands. “He is in love with her. Murphy. The guy who kept telling people to fuck off on the first night and hates everything. That guy says that he is in love. If they aren’t a match, I don’t think this show can provide a match for anyone.”

“If you’re right, that means we can move on to the pairings from week two. They matched that week I think, which means we only have to find one other couple from that week and then knock out some more potential matches. This could work.”

“We need to go pitch this to the group before Lexa and Anya convince them to pursue their dumb plan.” He started to get up to leave before Clarke grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

“Wait, they’ve been working on this for days. They’re not just going to give up their plan without it turning into a huge fight.”

“Well, princess, what do you suggest?” Clarke knew she should be more irritated about that nickname, but it didn’t sound vicious coming out of his mouth anymore. It almost felt like a term of endearment. She wondered if she and Bellamy could ever actually be friends. She had seen him being so sweet to Octavia and goofing around like an idiot with Miller. She wondered if there was a loving side of Bellamy that she couldn’t really see until she became his friend.

“What if we secretly help them win the challenge?” Bellamy turned to look at her, as if he was surprised a “princess” would suggest it. He fixed his dropped jaw and started smiling deviously.

“If Lexa or Anya finds out about this, they are going to be pissed. You know that, right?” She knew she should be more worried. She liked Lexa a lot. She took such good care of her this week and Clarke could see Lexa being her match. But, she also knew that she couldn’t convince Lexa that her strategy wasn’t sound. If it works, it’ll be worth it, she convinced herself.

“It’ll be worth it. Whatever the hell we want, right?” He gave her a strange smile before walking back out into the hallway. This better be worth it.

 

_Bellamy_

 

Octavia did not take much convincing. She and Lincoln would help carry out their plan. Raven stated she didn’t care and that she’d do whatever Bellamy told her to do. Clarke had partnered up with Wells, who he assumed was also in on the plan. The rest of the contestants were matched up in seemingly random pairings, no doubt Anya’s idea, he thought. He told Murphy before they left the house that they were going to try to get him and Emori into the truth booth. Murphy seemed overly suspicious but didn’t mention it to anyone.

They were all lined up on the beach with their partners. Raven wouldn’t stop leaning on his arm, which Bellamy felt weird about. Sure, they had hooked up earlier but they both acknowledged that it meant absolutely nothing. She wanted to forget Finn and he wasn’t sure what he wanted. But, it was clear that Raven was not actually interested in Bellamy. She just clung to his side whenever Finn was nearby.

This challenge was pretty simple: each match had to kayak out to the buoy that matched their team color, grab their flag, and kayak back to shore and bring the flag back to the starting line. The first two couples who successfully did this got to go on the date and could be voted into the truth booth.

He looked around at the matches. Most of the people in the house aren’t exactly the most coordinated, so it shouldn’t be hard for Murphy and Emori to beat them in this race. Lincoln and Octavia were in charge of making sure that Echo and Luna didn’t win. Miller and Bryan were taking care of Lexa and Harper. That left Anya and Roan to worry about. Luckily, Bellamy and Raven were to right next to them on their left while Clarke and Wells were on their right. Between the four of them, someone will figure out how to slow them down so that Murphy and Emori can get their truth booth.

Before they started, Bellamy reminded all of them to make sure any stunt they pull looks like an accident, so that they can all have plausible deniability. Clarke snorted at this, stating that everyone will know what they’re doing once the challenge starts.

When Kane blew the horn for them to go, they all started sprinting. Raven was pretty good at kayaking, Bellamy learned. He probably shouldn’t be that surprised. He just hasn’t taken the time to get to know her. Roan and Anya get a little too far ahead of them, but Clarke and Wells were close on their tail. As they all started to approach the buoys, he looked over and saw Octavia knock Echo’s flag into the water with her oar. He laughed to himself, wondering how she will try to claim that was an accident. Lexa and Harper weren’t doing as well as he had suspected. Roan and Anya were in the lead, with Clarke and Wells just a foot behind them. After them, was Bellamy and Raven with Emori and Murphy just behind them. If both he and Clarke stopped right now, Murphy and Emori could get second place, as long as no one else caught up to them. He looked over at Clarke to see if she had come to the same realization, only to see her smirking. Why was she smirking? He kept trying to figure out what she and Wells were up to, but Wells looked just as confused as Bellamy felt. If anything, they were gaining on Roan and Anya, which was absolutely not the plan.

Then, with no warning, she turned the kayak abruptly, crashing into Roan and Anya, throwing all four of them out of their kayaks as they tipped over. Bellamy and Raven quickly swerved and slowed down to avoid crashing into them as well. Then, he heard cheering as Emori and Murphy got to the finish line, followed by Jasper and Finn. Everyone else made their way back to shore, mostly laughing at the collision that took place right at the end.

All four of them were absolutely soaked. Wells looked so confused about what was going on while Anya and Roan seemed a bit hostile about the whole situation. Clarke, he noticed, was grinning ear to ear. Bellamy couldn’t remember the last time he saw Clarke that happy about anything. He looked over to see Murphy kissing Emori. They had to be so excited about going into the truth booth, especially knowing that there was no way the house was voting Finn and Jasper into the truth booth.

As they wrapped up shooting for the challenge, everyone started drying off and grabbing their things to go back to the house. He sped up his pace so that he could catch up to Clarke.

“Clarke, you did good today,” he admitted, trying to hold back a smile.

“What happened to princess?” she asked, with her smile still not fading. It was almost addictive. He couldn’t not smile when she was smiling like that.

“Thought you hated that nickname.”

“I did. But, it’s growing on me.” She used the towel to try and dry her hair as they walked. It was a complete mess and her eyeliner was starting to smear. But, she didn’t stop smiling.

“Well, princess, you look like you got caught out in a rainstorm without an umbrella.”

“I wear my smeared makeup and drenched hair with pride. This is the closest anyone will get to having battle scars on this show.” Bellamy brought his hands to cover his face while he cracked up over her serious tone.

“We thank you for your service princess,” he joked. They walked in silence for a few minutes while everyone around them were making plans for a party that night.

“We make a good team, surprisingly,” Clarke pointed out. Bellamy just nodded. They really did.

 

_Lincoln_

 

He couldn’t stop laughing at Octavia. They were playing one of those dumb games where you had a card on your forehead and had to ask questions to figure out what was on the card. She had asked Lincoln to make a card for her. He decided to write Octavia on the card and she could not figure out what she was supposed to be for the life of her. He noticed that when she got frustrated, she started using her hands in place of actual words. A trait she likely picked up from her brother.

He had expected more people in the house to be excited about Murphy and Emori officially being a perfect match. But, when they became a match, that meant that every other pairing from the first night was not a match. Wells and Clarke didn’t seem to mind. They were playing the game with him and Octavia and seemed to be just as excited about today’s win as Emori and Murphy.

This also meant that Octavia and Jasper were not matches. That wasn’t news to Lincoln, though. The other pairings that died that day were: Harper and Roan, Maya and Lexa, Echo and Bellamy, Luna and Anya, Bryan and Lincoln… and Monty and Miller. That was the only pairing Lincoln wasn’t sure about. They didn’t seem phased by this really, but they did keep matching with each other every week.

“Okay so I am in this house, but I’m not any of the people I’ve already guessed,” Octavia semi-drunkenly tried to explain. “Wait, I am IN the house but I might not be a person. Am I a person?”

“Yes,” Wells said while laughing into his drink.

“No, I have already guessed every other person in this house. You guys are just messing with me now.” Lincoln tried to hide his smile from her, knowing that she would know something was up. He looked over into the living room where he saw Roan, Anya, Luna, Echo, and Lexa huddled together whispering. That didn’t look good.

“Wait, it is my turn,” Wells interrupted but Lincoln didn’t hear whatever his question was. He was too busy watching the huddle in the living room. They knew, he realized. It could have been called an accident if Octavia had just knocked over the flag or Clarke just crashed into that kayak. But, having both happen had to look suspicious. Lincoln turned back around, hoping not to draw too much attention. Even though their plan was successful, he was sure that there were others in the house who felt betrayed by being played like that.

 

_Lexa_

 

“… and tonight is a special night because it is the first night where you guys start with one beam already lit, representing your first perfect match: Murphy and Emori!” Kane announced as everyone else cheered. Lexa stayed quiet, trying to stay focused. She had too much going on in her head, especially considering she had no idea who she should pick for the match ceremony. Before yesterday’s incident with the kayaking challenge, Lexa was going to pick Clarke. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

“First up, Lexa,” Kane called her up there. Lexa walked up toward him slowly, as to try to use every second to decide whether or not she would pick Clarke. “Lexa, who is your perfect match?” She turned around to face her fellow contestants before stopping when she realized that Finn kept trying to get Clarke’s attention.

“Marcus, tonight my match is Clarke.” Clarke let out a huge sigh of relief before running up toward Lexa, grinning ear to ear. Lexa knew that Clarke was excited about being her match for the night but couldn’t let this horrible feeling go. She didn’t want to pick Clarke. She went behind Lexa’s back with her scheming yesterday. And sure, it worked out. But, it still hurt. However, she couldn’t allow the possibility of Finn getting to pick Clarke, knowing that it would probably start another dramatic scene that would only hurt Clarke.

“Clarke, how are you doing? You had a rough week last week,” Kane asked in a supportive tone.

“Honestly, I’m doing great. I got really overwhelmed with everything that went down last week, but I have a great support system and Lexa has been a big part of that.” Clarke smiled in Lexa’s direction, making Lexa start to feel guilty about potentially not picking Clarke.

Lexa sat with Clarke, desperately hoping that this ceremony went by without any outbursts. Luna picked Monty, which is exactly what Anya suggested. Lexa wasn’t sure it was a smart choice, though. Echo chose Anya. Lincoln chose Octavia, which Lexa had to admit was cute. They had quickly become one of her preferred couples in the house. Then, it was Finn’s turn and he chose Harper.

“Finn, you don’t really seem enthusiastic about this choice. Was there someone else that you wanted to match with?” Kane asked.

“Yeah, I had actually planned on picking Clarke but Lexa beat me to it,” he explained. Then, she heard one of the contestant burst out laughing.

“Raven, do you have any thoughts about that?” Kane asked, making sure to phrase it in the right way as to inspire the most drama.

“Oh, I have lots of thoughts but most of them are not TV appropriate,” she said while smirking.

“No, Raven please share with the class. You clearly have something to say. Just say it,” Finn said without even turning to look at her.

“Okay, but you asked for it. I laughed because it so hilarious to me that you think you could be a match with Clarke.”

“That’s not---“

“No, let me finish. Last week that girl worked herself into a panic attack because she felt so guilty about causing me pain over something that you did. She’s apologized to me a hundred times, even though she didn’t do anything wrong. She has the biggest heart of anyone in this house. You don’t deserve someone who is that caring.” Jasper and Monty started cheering while the rest of the standing contestants just looked stunned. Lexa looked over at Clarke, who had sunken in her seat, but was still smiling softly, tearing up a little. Lexa grabbed her hand to comfort her, and Clarke leaned in closer.

Roan chose Miller. Bryan chose Wells. Then, Raven chose Bellamy. Lexa had heard a rumor that they had hooked up, but that was from Roan so who knew if it was even true.

“Bellamy, you seem really surprised that Raven chose you. I thought you two had gotten closer,” Kane pointed out. Bellamy looked down at his feet for a second, jaw clenched.

When he finally looked up, he said, “We have spent some time together, yeah. But, I’m not sure Raven is really ready to start anything serious with anyone in the house yet.”

“Yet, she was ready to screw you?” Finn shouted from his bench. Of fucking course he couldn’t let this one go. Something had to be done about the Finn problem. Everyone started looking back over at Raven, her face becoming red from embarrassment. She was about to say something when Clarke stepped up.

“Hey, Finn, you really don’t get to judge anyone in this house. What goes on between Bellamy and Raven is their own business. She shouldn’t have to tiptoe around moving on from you just because you failed so epically at rebounding.” Clarke then turned back around in her seat, her smile unwavering.

“Yaaas Clarke,” Lexa heard Harper and Octavia yell. Everyone else was doing some form of cheering, while Bellamy and Raven just stood with their jaws dropped. Finn didn’t say another word.

When the ceremony resumed and Raven and Bellamy made their way to their bench, Clarke turned around to look at Finn. “You better back the fuck off, Finn. You really don’t want to screw with me,” she spat at him, loud enough for Lexa, Raven, Bellamy, and Harper to overhear. Where did this girl come from, Lexa wondered. This kayak crashing, strategic mastermind is nothing like the girl who couldn’t get out of bed for a day after the last match up. Lexa was liking it.

Once Maya and Jasper successfully matched up, the group only got three beams of light. Lexa bit her lip, worrying about the fact that this was a smaller number than last week. But, as they walked back toward the house, Clarke grabbed her hand. Lexa couldn’t believe how comfortable it felt. It was like she had held this hand all her life.

Everyone gathered by the door to say goodbye to Emori and Murphy, as they left for their honeymoon suite. Lexa looked around for Anya, but she figured she had stayed back with Roan. They both seemed off tonight. Lexa made a mental note to see what was going on there later. Once Murphy and Emori were out the door, Clarke put her arm around Lexa’s shoulder and pulled her in to kiss her cheek.

Then, everyone started heading their separate ways, mostly to go to bed. Lexa knew Clarke wanted her to come sleep next to her tonight, but she couldn’t go up there. This was happening too quickly, she thought. She liked Clarke but there was no guarantee she was her match. She could get attached and then get pulled away from her. She needed to put a little distance between them. Right, she thought, this was the safest plan. She wouldn’t do anything else until she was certain this would work out.


	5. Team Petty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little more intense than the previous ones. I promise more light moments will be coming up in the next chapter. But, week five is sort of a turning point for these guys. So, it got a little bit dark.

_Raven_

She was going to kill Finn. Sure, premeditated murder wasn’t a great life decision. But it would definitely spike the show’s ratings, she joked to herself. He wasn’t in the kitchen. She kept marching around the downstairs, trying to figure out where he could be. Everyone backed away when she walked past, knowing full well not to mess with her when she gets like this. She goes into the living room, but he’s not there either. She already checked his room and didn’t hear him in anyone else’s room. She turned toward the back door toward the patio where she found him drinking beer with Roan, Bellamy, and Luna.

“You son of a bitch,” she shouted as she charged right at him. Finn jumped back as Roan stood up to get in her way. “Move, Roan.”

“Use your words. What is wrong?”

“That asshole is going around telling everyone that I’m screwing Wells now, which isn’t even true!” she snapped, trying to shove Roan out of her way.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Finn retorted smugly. Raven lunged forward as Roan pushed her back, keeping her off Finn. Then, she felt arms pulling at her waist, holding her back.

“Can you get her to calm down?” Roan directed at Luna, who had just gotten a grip on Raven’s arms, stopping her from flailing about. “Bell, get him out of here.” Finn looked incredibly smug as he was pushed toward the door.

“We should have just let her beat the shit out of you,” Bellamy muttered as he shut the door behind him.

“Raven, calm down. We won’t let you go until you settle down,” Luna said softly into her ear. Raven tried taking a deep breath but then started sobbing uncontrollably.

“It wasn’t supposed to go like this,” she sobbed, as Luna and Roan gave her a little bit of space. “He broke my heart, wasn’t that enough? What else does he want to ruin for me?” Raven turned into Luna’s shoulder as Luna used her arm to pull her in close.

“Shhhh. It’s going to be okay. He’s acting out because he is not as strong as you,” Luna whispered into her ear. Raven just closed her eyes and tried to match her breathing to Luna’s.

“I just want him gone.” Her breathing was still shallow, but the smell of Luna’s shirt calmed her down. She smelled like laundry detergent and the sea and Raven found it oddly comforting. This game had been a horrible storm for Raven. Maybe she needed calm waters, instead.

 

_Jasper_

He really thought this house was done having an Echo problem. She had been chill for a while, only occasionally starting little fights over things that didn’t really matter. To be honest, Jasper had kind of forgotten about her in the midst of all the Finn and Raven drama. Yeah, they all thought the worst of Hurricane Echo was over.

Yet, here they all are, watching awkwardly as Echo keeps putting her hand on Lincoln’s leg. Jasper looked over at Octavia, who was aggressively breaking eggs into the bowl.

“He’s not flirting back, is he?” she asked in a hostile manner.

“Oh God no. He’s obsessed with you. He just looks so uncomfortable,” Jasper replied. There were other people at the table with them, of course. Lincoln kept trying to nudge her away and direct his attention at literally anyone else. “Echo is thirsty as fuck, dude.”

“Please, never say that again,” Bellamy said as he walked in and kissed Octavia’s forehead. “She doesn’t actually like him, don’t worry. She’s just getting bored.” Jasper laughed at that. When he gets bored, he watches dumb movies or gets high… or both. He doesn’t go after someone else’s boyfriend.

“I would prefer to be bored at this point. Between Raven getting murderous whenever Finn is in the room and Clarke fighting with Lexa all morning, I could really use a day where nothing significant happens. Just all of us chilling by the pool and being nice,” Octavia mused.

“I thought Clarke and Lexa were together?” Jasper asked, confused as to why that changed so quickly.

“Oh, no. Lexa was pissed at Clarke for the kayak incident, claiming that all Clarke does is undermine and scheme,” Octavia explained. Jasper just rolled his eyes. He thought they could be a good match, maybe. This just sounds like Lexa was mad about Clarke being right.

“But isn’t that exactly what Lexa and Anya keep trying to do?” Bellamy asked and Octavia threw her hands up in the air as if to say, “I know!”

“I low key think that fight had to be about something else, though. Like it just sounds like Lexa picked a fight just so they would fight,” Jasper mused. It was just stupid, he thought. Why start a fight right when things are settling down? And why pick a fight with Clarke, of all people? That girl would verbally bitch slap you and crash into your kayak just to get her way. People were being dumb today.

 

_Bellamy_

The challenge was honestly one of the dumbest things they had to do so far. Everyone partnered up and had to match these weird, out of context sentences to the person in the house who actually said it. He and Harper only got three correct. Octavia and Lincoln won though and got to go on the date. Bellamy was pretty happy for his sister. She had wanted to go on an actual date with Lincoln since the second week of competition. However, the second place team was also joining them on this date… and they happened to be Echo and Finn.

He would never have put the two of them together. But, as he thought about it, he realized that no sane person in this house would go near either of them at this point. They were probably all that was left, once everyone else paired up.

Bellamy was sitting in his room, folding his laundry when he heard a knock on the door.

“Hey, sorry for bothering you, but I have kind of a weird plan,” Lexa said, closing the door behind her.

“Your plans never work out.”

“I think we should send Echo and Finn into the truth booth.”

“What? Are you insane?” Bellamy almost shouted. That was the dumbest idea ever. Lincoln and Octavia are very obviously a match and this might be the only chance they get to go into the truth booth and confirm it.

“Hear me out, please,” she said, while sitting down at the desk in the corner. “The two of them are undeniably the biggest sources of drama in this house. Instead of fighting with them, we should be helping them find their matches quickly so that they go to the honeymoon suite and leave us for good.”

“As much as I would love to get rid of Echo, it doesn’t make sense to throw her and Finn into the truth booth. They haven’t spent any time together and we don’t even know if they could be compatible. The odds of them being a match are slim to none.” He turned around and resumed doing his laundry.

“But answer me honestly, who in this house do you see either of them ending up with?” Bellamy paused to think about that. He really hated the idea that anyone in this house would have the misfortune of being matched with Finn. He’s terrorizing Raven and stalking Clarke and is too stubborn to just move on. He had thought Echo could be a match for Lexa or Anya, until he saw them interact and realized how unbearably uncomfortable that relationship would be. “You can’t think of one, can you?”

“No. I can’t.”

“You know I’m right. Look, Echo is desperate for attention and Finn needs an outlet for all his needy energy. I know it’s a long shot since they’ve never been matched before. But, if they are a match, this could solve a lot of the house’s problems. I think it’s worth the risk.”

“Octavia is going to throw a fit if we don’t put her in that truth booth, though.”

“Octavia and Lincoln must be a perfect match. We all know it. We don’t need to use a truth booth on them to know that.” She had a point. There was no way they weren’t a perfect match. He could deal with Octavia’s anger if it meant that they could all live Echo-less lives.

“Okay. What do you need me to do?”

“Quietly convince people this is the smartest move. We don’t vote on the truth booth for a few hours so that should be enough time to get a majority of the house.”

“Have you already talked to Clarke?” he asked. She squished her nose before looking toward the door.

“Clarke wouldn’t go along with this. I think it would be best if we just went around her.”

“You know she will be pissed when she figures it out, right?”

“It’s no different than what you two did to me last week,” she argued. She had a point. It shouldn’t be any different. But, it felt different. It was one thing to betray Lexa and Anya. Bellamy didn’t know them well and didn’t care about how it affected them. But, he really didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Clarke’s wrath. Especially not when he will already be in trouble with Octavia.

 

_Clarke_

 

Clarke sat in the dead center of the couch, making sure to get the best spot to watch the chaos from before the two couples got back from their date. She looked over at Bellamy, who was frantically pacing at the front of the room. Lexa also looked nervous as Anya consistently tried to remind her that they made the right call.

Bull. Fucking. Shit.

Clarke was proud of herself, though. She didn’t yell, she didn’t slap anyone, and she didn’t insult anyone. Earlier that afternoon when the vote was taking place, she really didn’t think any strategy was necessary for this decision. It was easy. Pick the obvious perfect match who would be the other match from week two. Then, everybody would know that they weren’t matched with their matches from week two. Her plan worked before. It would keep working. Yet, when the vote was called, only three people voted for Octavia and Lincoln. When all the hands went up for Finn and Echo, almost every person turned to look at her to see how she would respond. Bellamy gave her a look like he was trying to apologize with his eyes. She just got up and left.

Now, hours later, the panic of the decision that was made was finally settling in. And Clarke was loving every second of it. She heard the front door opening and within minutes everyone was gathered in the living room. Then, Kane announced who would be going into the truth booth.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Octavia shouted. Lincoln had sat down and put his head between his hands. “Who the hell voted for this?”

“A majority of the house,” Lexa explained.

“Bellamy did,” Clarke blurted out, smiling smugly as Bellamy shot her a dirty look.

“What the fuck, Bell? How could you do this to me?”

“Also, why the fuck would anyone vote us into the truth booth?” Finn asked, clearly as confused as the rest of them.

“Ask your strategists, Bellamy and Lexa. I’m sure their answer is good,” Roan muttered.

“We don’t even like each other!” Echo yelled before throwing her shoe at Bellamy. Clarke laughed when it hit his stomach. He shot her another glare as if to say that she needed to watch it.

“Guys, we need to get you two in the truth booth,” Kane interrupted.

“Fuck no. We are re-voting,” Echo argued.

“No we are not re-voting. The house voted and this is its decision. Go to the truth booth,” Bellamy argued.

“I’m Team Bellamy on this. I’m sure the house had a reason for this decision and we should see it through,” Lincoln agreed. Octavia rolled her eyes.

“Who wants to join me and Jasper on Team Petty and throw things at Bellamy?” Clarke joked and a couple of people raised their hands. Echo and Finn slipped out the door toward the truth booth.

“Clarke, can I talk to you for a minute?” Bellamy asked, doing that creepy fake smile thing he does when he’s really angry.

“Yeah sure, go ahead,” she smugly replied, leaning back against couch. She should have made popcorn, she thought. He stood there for a moment, hoping she would budge. But, she didn’t. She was fed up.

“I get that you’re angry with me. But, I’m going to need you to check your attitude here. This decision is hard enough already without you stirring the pot.”

“No, I think you need to check yourself. You convinced eleven people that voting for Echo and Finn was the right move. That’s on you. You voted them up because you want to get them out of the house. They’re people, Bellamy. Do you have any idea how much it would hurt them to know that eleven people voted  for the tiniest chance of getting them out of this house?” Clarke could sense the rest of the room getting uncomfortable.

“You hate them just as much as I do.”

“No, apparently I don’t. Because I wouldn’t have done this to them. Best case scenario, they leave and you deprived your little sister of a chance at getting a confirmed match and a happy little vacation with her boyfriend. And let’s not forget you would be trapping two people who cannot stand each other in a honeymoon suite where they would be stuck, alone, and together for the next five weeks.”

“If they’re a perfect match, they won’t hate each other! That’s the whole fucking point,” Bellamy shouted back at her. She could see Lexa and Roan stepping toward this argument, in case it took an ugly turn.

“You’ve watched this show before, Bellamy. Sometimes the compatibility tests are just wrong. People who can’t stand each other end up matched all the damn time. The worst case scenario on this situation is that they both have to be stuck in a house, knowing that eleven people in it tried to get rid of them and you wasted your sister’s truth booth. How could you be so fucking dumb?” She was standing up now, keeping her chin high so that she could look into his eyes as he towered over her. She wasn’t going to be the first person to break eye contact. Then, they heard the back door open again and turned to see Echo in tears and an angry expression on Finn’s face.

“Congrats, Bell. We’re a perfect fucking match,” Echo said, snatching Monty’s drink out of his hand before walking toward the stairs. The room was completely silent, waiting to see how Finn would respond.

He looked down at his feet, swallowing a few times before opening his mouth to speak. “I know that I’ve been a really horrible person to live with these past few weeks. I’m sorry. I don’t really have an excuse for how I’ve acted but I’m really sorry that it got to the point where you guys had to risk everything just for the possibility of getting rid of me. I wish you guys the best of luck at finding your matches,” he said calmly without looking up at anyone, then walked toward his bedroom.

Clarke glared at Bellamy again, noticing how his face no longer contained any anger, just sadness. “Congrats on your second confirmed match. I hope it was worth it,” she spat before chasing after Finn and pulling him into a hug. He immediately broke into tears, sobbing into Clarke’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Clarke. I’m sorry,” he whispered, hugging her tight.

“You’re okay,” she whispered back, feeling every person in the living room staring at them. She didn’t care. He needed this. No one deserves to feel this hated.

Clarke ended up falling asleep in one of the lounge chairs by the pool that night. She didn’t want to be near anyone for a while.

Maybe they could find a way to be happy, she hoped. They probably aren’t soulmates… at least not in a romantic sense. But, they could grow into being friends. Maybe they would be good for each other. Maybe some light can shine from all this darkness.

 

_Harper_

No one talked on the walk to the match up ceremony. Murphy and Emori were sitting there waiting for them and, God, did they look happy. Everyone lined up in their spots, but no one had the TV smiles that they usually put on for the beginning of the ceremony. Kane, however, looked perfectly happy, despite also witnessing the most vicious fight in the house yet. No one even knew where Clarke went last night, which definitely kept Harper from sleeping. She tried not to get too involved in house drama, but she also didn’t think it was safe for Clarke to disappear for hours at a time, especially given how angry she was.

“Before we get started, how about we let our newest perfect match come join Murphy and Emori?” Kane announced. Murphy smiled and whistled toward us. Emori clapped her hands together. Then, Finn and Echo started walking toward them and both their smiles dropped.

“What the actual fuck?” Murphy asked, looking at the rest of the group. He had to get the sense that he had missed something. This probably seemed random to him.

“They hate us so much that they voted us into the truth booth just so they could get us out of the house,” Echo explained, glaring at the group.

“That’s fucked up. So, master strategist, was this your doing?” Murphy asked, directed at Clarke.

“I voted against it. You should be looking at Lexa and Bellamy,” she responded sharply. Kane redirected everyone’s attention back to the ceremony. They probably had enough footage from last night to cover just how fucked up that vote was, Harper thought. She didn’t think when she voted for them. She just saw a way to fix the Finn problem.

Anya chose Bryan. Luna chose Monty. Damnit, Harper thought. Every week this happened. Someone always picked Monty before Harper got a chance to. She hadn’t gotten as much alone time with him as she would have liked, but she knew there was a strong possibility they were a match.

Clarke chose Roan. Kane made a big deal out of that one. Clarke wasn’t having any of it. He kept asking questions about why she didn’t match up with Lexa or if she had reconciled with Bellamy and she kept dodging.

“Are you still angry with them for what happened yesterday?” he asked.

“Not anymore. I just don’t want to have anything to do with them.” She then grabbed Roan by the wrist and went to their bench before Kane even got the chance to tell them they could be seated.

Next, he called up Harper and she picked Lexa. She was pretty sure Lexa wasn’t her match, but after yesterday, who knows?

Raven picked Wells. Jasper chose Maya. Octavia chose Lincoln. This left Bellamy and Miller, who just kind of laughed when they got called up.

“So, Miller, would you have chosen Bellamy tonight if you had been given a choice?” Kane asked.

“Oh, God no. We’re best friends.” Bellamy smirked as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked like shit. Harper knew that a lot of people had trouble sleeping last night, but he looked like he hadn’t slept in years.

“Do you think you know Bellamy pretty well?” Kane continued to probe. Miller nodded. The rest of the group was seated but growing irritated. Kane was trying hard to start little fights tonight and they had done a good job of dodging it. But, no one really knew where Kane was going with this. “Who do you think his perfect match is?”

Miller shifted in place, while trying to get a read on Bellamy, who did not seem amused by this line of questions. “Honestly, Marcus. I don’t know. If you had asked me a week ago, I would have an answer for you. But, now I don’t have a clue.”

“Who would you have said a week ago?”

“Clarke.” The entire group started grumbling to each other and Bellamy looked at Miller like he was the biggest idiot in the world. Clarke leaned back in her chair and just started cackling as she covered her face with her hands.

“Dude, they have hated each other since day one,” Monty pointed out.

“I know. But, then they stopped hating each other for a little while and that was a really calm week. Excuse me for being optimistic. I’ve obviously changed my mind since then.” Kane was clearly stunned by all of this. Harper had expected Miller to say Raven or Luna or literally anyone other than Clarke.

Miller and Bellamy locked in and sat down with the rest of the group. They got four matches, which was a minimal improvement from the previous week.

Saying goodbye to Echo and Finn was more emotional than saying goodbye to Murphy and Emori. No one knew what to say to them, except for Clarke. She somehow managed to say the right things that made them all feel better about the shitty decision they made. Raven and Finn hugged goodbye, looking like they finally got some closure. Echo hugged Clarke for the longest time before it was time to go. Harper overheard Clarke say, “Maybe he could be your best friend. Not all soulmates are romantic. There’s something there that is supposed to bring out the best in you. It’ll be okay,” before hugging her once last time. Harper wished she could be as optimistic as Clarke.

The door slammed behind them. The house was so quiet with them gone. Clarke stormed toward the stairs.

“Clarke,” Bellamy begged.

“Go fuck yourself,” she spat, before sprinting up the stairs. Within seconds, they all heard her door slam.

Octavia went to hug her brother and he buried his face into her shoulder. Everyone dispersed, mostly heading straight to bed. Harper stayed downstairs and laid down on the couch. Just one day ago she was in the same exact spot and helped make the decision that tore the house apart tonight. She felt the couch shift, so she sat up to see who had joined her.

“Are you okay?” Monty asked. She shook her head no as the tears started pouring. He gestured for her to come closer into a hug. Harper rested her head on Monty’s chest as he pulled her close. “It’s going to all be okay.” She shook her head again, but focused her attention to listening to his heart beat. He was still talking but she couldn’t make sense of anything coming out of his mouth. She just listened to his heart beat until it soothed her to sleep.


	6. Slutty Chic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, you guys! First of all, thank you guys so much for all the love and encouragement. It means more than you'll ever know. This is my first time writing a fic and I was so nervous about how people would respond. 
> 
> Going forward, I might start splitting the chapters up more, taking two chapters to cover a week instead of one. As we get closer to the tenth week, I think the story needs more space to explore the struggle of finding the last few matches. 
> 
> Anyway, I wanted to clear a few things up that some of you expressed confusion over.
> 
> I know that the game seems really complicated. That's because it is. I totally recommend watching it, btw. I based the decision to throw Finn and Echo into the truth booth on something that happened on the original show. Basically, there were two people who were a confirmed not match but stayed together anyway, which sabotaged the show for everyone else. The rest of the house decided to put one of them into the truth booth with a random person, hoping for a match so that they could split the couple up and stop further drama. And, as luck would have it, it was a perfect match, which sparked a huge fight, very similar to the one from last chapter. They basically all agreed that it was the right choice, but it hurt a lot of people in the house, especially the two people who got split up. Last chapter wasn't exactly like that, but I didn't think it was too far of a stretch to think that contestants on this show would vote a couple in just to get rid of some of the drama. 
> 
> A lot of people questioned why Clarke would be upset about how all of that went down, which is fair. I very purposefully left out a lot of what was going through her head. I hope this chapter clears some of the confusion up. Overall, she feels a little betrayed. She doesn't really lash out at Lexa because they were already having problems. But, I think Bellamy going behind her back after how close they had gotten last week really hurt Clarke. 
> 
> As I see it, Clarke was completely blind-sighted by the decision to put Echo and Finn into the truth booth. When she finally worked out why the rest of the house voted for it, she was furious. While finding your perfect match is supposed to be a good thing, the way it happened here was the equivalent of voting them out of the house. No one voted for them out of hoping they found love. They voted for them because they wanted them gone. And Clarke, being a good person, didn't want Echo or Finn to be forced out of the house feeling hated by everyone. 
> 
> I hope that clears up some of your confusion. Hit me up with some more of your thoughts! Love you guys!

_Roan_

“Will you guys shut up for like five minutes so that we can share our proposal?” Wells shouted over everyone in the living room. The rest of the group started to quiet down as Roan stood up on the table beside Wells.

“Thanks. So, things have been tense in this house since that truth booth. And Wells and I have put together a solution that might just fix everything,” Roan explained, expecting everyone in the room to roll their eyes. “Tonight, we propose that we throw a party. A big one.”

“There is one rule for this party, though. No talking about the game. We mean it. No strategy sessions, no discussing who you think your perfect match is. Just everyone getting shit-faced and hanging out like we are all friends.”

“You had me at shit-faced!” Octavia screamed. Roan laughed while shaking his head. He didn’t know why he was so worried about this idea. It’s not like anyone here would turn down the opportunity to be drunk and stupid for a night.

“If you break the one rule we have, I’m fairly certain you will end up being thrown in the pool. So, watch yourselves,” Roan added.

“Can we make the dress code ‘slutty chic’?” Jasper asked as Monty and Maya started giggling behind them. The rest of the group laughed in agreement, before dispersing to get ready for the party. This was a good idea, Roan thought. They house needed to let loose a little, stop taking the game so seriously. Roan wasn’t happy with how last week went. He voted to put Lincoln and Octavia in the truth booth, after all. And even though Finn and Echo ended up being a match, it still didn’t sit well with him.

Sure, they would have been matched up eventually. But, they got sent off to the honeymoon suite together before they could even make peace with them being a match. Roan didn’t care much for Finn, mainly due to how much he kept hurting Clarke. Echo, on the other hand, he had once thought could be his match. Sure, she had been annoying. But, he also knew that she was a big softie deep down. He remembered talking with her during the first week about soulmates and how quietly excited she was about potentially falling in love with someone in the house. She never went about it the right way, but, just like everyone else, she was here to find that special person. Roan could sort of see how eventually Finn could have been that person. They could have gotten to know each other in the house over the next few weeks and established a real connection. He worried that being thrown together would make that hard. No one wants to start a relationship that way.

He looked over at Wells, who was pulling out the liquor from the cabinets in the kitchen. Their plan was totally going to work, he hoped. Everyone just needed to get hammered and get out of their heads.

 

_Luna_

Octavia shouldn’t be allowed to make drinks anymore. She looked around the party and it had not taken long for everyone to be completely messed up. Most of the girls in the house used tonight as an excuse to bust out their shortest skirts, not that Luna minded, noting that Raven had really nice legs.

She was sitting outside on the patio with Clarke, Roan, Bryan and Anya. Anya had been pretty quiet all evening, probably at a loss for what to talk about since they weren’t allowed to discuss the game. Bryan had been hiccupping for the last few minutes, which Luna found absolutely adorable. Some people were over by the pool, running around and throwing each other in. There was music blasting inside the house and she could see that the lights were off in the living room. She could barely make out the silhouettes of the rest of the house dancing and grinding on each other.

Clarke had been surprisingly pleasant, Luna found. She was busy berating Roan for his ridiculous outfit. He had on a pair of skinny jeans and a Hawaiian style shirt with the buttons undone so that everyone would look right at his abs.

“I just can’t believe you don’t like this shirt. I thought I looked pretty good,” Roan said to her, slurring his words a little.

“It’s not that I don’t like it,” Clarke said, smirking slightly. “It’s just that I thought it would look better on my bedroom floor.” Anya and Bryan both let out a “ooooh” while Roan couldn’t keep himself from smiling. So, Clarke is a flirty drunk, Luna noted.

She saw two people making out in the hot tub, probably Lincoln and Octavia. They were still going strong, week after week. It really was stupid to not put them in the truth booth, she realized. They were the most stable couple in the house.

 

_Lexa_

 

“Truth,” she answered, not wanting to pick dare after seeing Raven getting dared to give Harper a lap dance.

“Okay, what went wrong in your love life that resulted in you coming on this show?” Monty asked, before finishing off his drink. Lexa looked around the circle awkwardly. There was no one playing that she was really close to and felt kind of weird opening up to anyone that wasn’t Clarke or Anya. But, both of them were pretty pissed at her at the moment, so it’s not like they would have agreed to play truth or dare with her anyway. She looked around the circle, noting that Jasper and Maya weren’t really paying attention. At least Bellamy was there, she thought, relieved that they were kind of friends now.

“Well, there was someone that I really loved actually. But, I lost her a few years ago,” she said, looking back down at her drink. She hated that she just killed the fun vibe of the game. “I stopped trying to find someone after that. It’s hard to find love a second time. Most of us are lucky to get it the first time around.” Bellamy looked up at her sympathetically, and she felt slightly relieved.

“I’m so sorry. If I had known, I wouldn’t have asked that question,” Monty replied, looking like he felt guilty for probing. Harper leaned into his shoulder, as if trying to comfort him. They make kind of a cute pair, Lexa thought. They could totally be a match.

She heard a bunch of people coming in from outside, getting ready to play one of those drinking games with a deck of cards.

“I just didn’t think you were the kind of person who played these games,” she heard Octavia say as they headed toward the kitchen table.

“What are you talking about? I can be fun,” Clarke replied in an almost threatening tone. It would be alarming if it weren’t for how slurred her words were. She watched Octavia struggle to keep a straight face as Clarke put her hands on her hips and did a fake pout.

“Clarke, be nice,” Roan warned, sitting himself at the head of the table. At this point, everyone in the truth or dare circle were watching them come in, amused at how drunk Clarke had gotten.

“Oh God Octavia,” Clarke continued, putting both of her hands on either side of Octavia’s face. “I am so sorry. I don’t mean to be mean,” she said very seriously.

“Who wants to be in charge of watching Clarke tonight?” Bellamy muttered to the rest of the circle. That sparked a giggle from Maya and a few sighs from Monty and Harper.

“You know, you’re like the prettiest person in the house. Lincoln is so lucky,” Clarke rambled on. Octavia laughed, before putting an arm around Clarke’s shoulder and leading her toward the stairs. “I’m like hard core shipping you guys. Oh my God, you guys should name your first baby after me!” Clarke said excitedly, before stopping to grab Octavia’s hand. Octavia was really trying to keep a straight face while the rest of the circle was trying not to let their laughter get too loud.

“I’ll keep that in mind. But, I’ll probably go with one of our family names. Let’s get you to bed,” she said pulling Clarke by the hand. The group couldn’t see them as they reached the top, but they could still hear Clarke, who was doing that thing where she spoke really loudly but thought she was whispering.

“Why would you pick an old family name when your baby could have the name Clarke?” they heard her say before hearing her stumble and adding, “No, I’m fine. I know how to walk, Octavia.”

The group resumed playing truth or dare and eventually were joined by Roan, who looked just as drunk as Clarke.

“Didn’t I throw the best party ever?” he kept asking as he snuggled up to Bellamy.

“Yes, you did. It turned out so great,” Maya reassured, while patting him on the shoulder.

“Bellamy, do you think we could be best friends?” he asked while poking Bellamy in the side. Bellamy hadn’t had much to drink, Lexa observed.

“Could? I think we already are,” he said, humoring Roan. Lexa wished she had her camera to snap a picture of this adorable moment. Roan did throw one hell of a party, she had to admit. There was no drama that she knew of and she had almost completely forgotten why she had been tense these last few days. Almost.

 

_Wells_

They did throw one hell of a party, he thought. He was lucky to not be hungover, although most of the house did not have that luxury. He was in the kitchen, pouring some milk into his bowl of cereal, before heading toward the kitchen table.

“Do you have to walk so loud?” Anya asked, with her hands covering her face.

“Sorry,” he muttered back. The rest of the house was slowly making their way to the living room, getting ready to leave for the challenge. He wondered if it would be cancelled, given how hard it had been raining that day.

When he finished his breakfast, he walked into the living room, plopping down next to Clarke, who was struggling to keep her eyes open. Maybe they should have had that party on a different night, he realized. Within a few minutes, Kane marched up to the front of the room.

“Hey, guys. I heard you guys had a little party last night.” he asked, loudly, causing a few groans from the more hungover of the group. “I’m glad you guys found a way to cut loose and enjoy yourselves. You might have noticed that it’s storming outside.” A couple people nodded in response, while everyone else tried to look like they were paying attention to Kane. Wells, despite being in a pretty good mood himself, somehow found it unnerving when Kane was so chipper. He knew by now that if Kane was all smiles, that meant that he had something up his sleeve. “Our original challenge was going to take place outside. But, that’s not going to work now. So, my team and I really had to figure out the best way to decide who should be up for consideration for the truth booth.” Wells didn’t like where this was going. Last night had been pretty drama free, with the notable exception of when Jasper and Monty were fighting over the cancellation of _Firefly._ Shows like this were supposed to be full of drama, though. That meant Kane was going to do something that he was certain would start a few fights.

”I brought some old friends by to decide which two couples get to go on a date tomorrow,” he said, as the front door swung open and Emori, Murphy, Finn, and Echo ran into the room. A couple of people started cheering, just to be polite, Wells thought. But, the rest of the room tensed up. For fuck’s sake, Wells couldn’t believe Kane did this. Oh wait, he totally could believe it.

“Who better to pick out your next perfect match than the two confirmed perfect matches? They are going stay here all day to hang out with you guys, see how things are going in the house, and make a decision on who goes on the special date based on what they learn today. Sound good?” he asked, knowing full well everyone had to say yes, regardless of what they really thought.

As soon as Kane left the house, Finn grumbled, “Is nine in the morning too early to start drinking?” and all the tension in the air dropped as everyone laughed.

 

_Bellamy_

All things considered, this could have gone much worse. Everyone was gathered around each of their former housemates, asking them about how they were doing. Bellamy wanted to go check in with Echo first, but she immediately ran up to hug Clarke and had been talking her ear off. He should probably leave the two of them alone. So, he headed toward Finn. He needed to apologize.

“Don’t even worry about it,” Finn said, confusing Bellamy.

“No, I really am sorry. It was a shitty thing to do.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t make that decision alone,” Finn pointed out.

“But, Lexa and I went out of our way to convince the rest of the house. And that wasn’t okay.” Bellamy wasn’t going to let Finn forgive him that easily. He deserved to be yelled at. He deserved to have more people being pissed at him. Most of the house was taking their passive aggressive anger out on Lexa, especially since they found out it was her idea in the first place. Anya and Lexa, who Bellamy thought were close friends, haven’t so much as said a word to each other in days.

“You wouldn’t have wanted me out of the house that badly if I didn’t deserve it, though. I just wish I had known how I was affecting everyone before so that it didn’t have to come down to that.” Finn and Bellamy were pretty much alone now, as most of the group had taken to filling in Murphy, Emori, and Echo on what’s been going on in the house since they all left. “Stop feeling guilty, man. It kind of worked out. Like I’m not saying that I like Echo, but I see why we were a match. She can be really sweet, when you get her alone. And she keeps calling me out whenever I start being passive aggressive.”

Bellamy kind of smiled at that. He was so grateful that they weren’t miserable together. He still didn’t like Finn. He was a major tool. But, they had an understanding. He looked around the room, trying to locate Echo. She was surrounded by Luna, Harper, and Maya, smiling and talking a mile a minute. She seemed happy, he observed. Wait, wasn’t Clarke talking to her earlier? He looked around the room but didn’t see her anywhere.

He found himself in the upstairs hallway, far away from the crowded noises coming from downstairs. Clarke’s bedroom door was open, so he walked right in. He found her sitting on the floor with her back to the wall, arms around her knees, crying and breathing heavily.

“Clarke, are you okay?” She didn’t look up but shook her head before pushing it into her knees.

“Do I need to go get Luna or Lexa?” he asked, afraid to walk any further into the room. He didn’t want to upset her any further but he needed to make sure that she was okay.

“I don’t want to bother them,” she muttered without glancing up.

“What can I do to help you?” He didn’t really know much about panic attacks or how they worked. He wasn’t sure if she wanted him to stay or leave or if she needed a hug or if she just needed to be left alone.

“Can you just sit and talk for a little bit?” He nodded before sitting down a few feet away from Clarke. He started talking about his theories behind who in the house could possibly be a match. He was hoping that their former housemates put Octavia and Lincoln on the date tomorrow, he explained. Before he knew it, he was just talking about Octavia, about how he practically raised her and how Octavia was all he had after his mother died. He joked about how he tried to act all threatening to Lincoln early on in the competition and Lincoln just shrugged his shoulders and said he wasn’t scared of Bellamy. Clarke had sat up, moving her arms above her head to control her breathing better. Bellamy switched topics. He recapped his conversation with Finn, expressing how relieved he was that him and Echo weren’t entirely miserable. He started theorizing about what the compatibility tests for this show were really measuring. Murphy and Emori were clearly in love, but he was pretty sure not everyone in this house would get so lucky with their match. He told Clarke that he thinks everyone in the house has been too focused on finding someone they were attracted to that they missed the point of the game.

“We came here because things weren’t going great before. The show is supposed to teach us what kind of people we should each be looking for. It’s supposed to be the person who brings out the best in them..” he continued his rant.

“Bellamy,” he heard Clarke whisper. It was the first thing she had said in nearly fifteen minutes.

“Yeah?” He turned to look at her. She had calmed down; her breathing was under control. Her eyes were a little red from crying, but she was starting to look like the old Clarke again.

“Why did you go behind my back like that? Why didn’t you just talk to me?” Bellamy looked down at his hands. He didn’t have a good answer to that. He would like to say it was because Lexa told him not to. But, he knew deep down that he didn’t consult Clarke because she would have talked him out of it. “I thought you and I, you know, understood each other.”

“We do,” he replied.

“Then why—“

“Because I knew you would talk me out of it. And I was worked up over how angry Echo was making Octavia, and how Finn kept bringing out the worst in Raven. I was sick and tired of the two of them causing drama in this house. Between Finn creepily obsessing over you and Echo picking fights with you, I convinced myself that you would be fine with it in the end. That going over your head would be best option for you and me and the rest of the house.”

She didn’t respond to that. She just kept her eyes fixed on the wall across from her. She nodded quietly, before sighing.

“Do you want to talk about what made you so upset today?” He saw her press her lips together, contemplating how to answer.

“You’ll think it’s stupid.”

“Try me,” he replied before leaning back against the wall.

 

_Octavia_

It had stopped raining by the time Octavia and Lincoln went on their date. Their former housemates chose them along with Jasper and Maya to go on the date. Octavia was thrilled by this, mainly because she knew that both couples on the date were most likely perfect matches. This would be a huge step forward for the house, she thought.

On this date, both couples got their own jeeps to ride through the tropical forests in. Lincoln let Octavia drive, which she was sure he instantly regretted. She kept slamming on the gas, while Lincoln kept gripping the door, as if he thought he was going to die.

“Don’t be such a baby. I know what I’m doing,” she said with a huge grin on her face. The weather was nice and cool from the storm yesterday and the sky was overcast. Every time Lincoln flinched or made a scared noise, Octavia just laughed.

“Excuse me for valuing safety.”

“You’re worrying about nothing.”

“Maybe I don’t want to die in a freak jeep accident before I got to tell you that I love you,” he snapped. Octavia slammed the brakes, bring the jeep to an abrupt halt. He loved her. He just said that, she thought. She looked over at him as the realization of what he just said ran across his face. “Octavia, I…”

He didn’t get to finish that thought because she had climbed over to the passenger side and straddled him, before pulling him into a long, slow kiss. It was urgent, but very deliberate. She kept her forehead pressed against his, with a huge smile on her face. “I love you too.”

 

_Clarke_

Of course they were a match, Clarke thought. She had called it weeks ago. Plus, them being a match meant the house had found the two matches from the second week. That meant that Clarke was not a match with Roan, which she was sort of bummed out about. The other newly official non-matches were: Harper and Lexa, Maya and Wells, Luna and Jasper, and Bryan and Anya. Clarke had been keeping a chart in her sketchbook to keep track of who couldn’t match with who. She and Bellamy stayed up late after the truth booth to make a plan for the next night’s match up ceremony. They pretty much agreed with who should match up with who, with the exception of Bellamy thinking that Clarke should match up with Lexa.

It wasn’t that Clarke didn’t like Lexa. She did. But, whenever she felt like their relationship was going somewhere, Lexa sabotaged it. She picked fights or started avoiding her. There was something else going on there that Clarke couldn’t seem to figure out.

Plus, Lexa was the person who made sure no one told Clarke about last week’s plan until it had already finished. It felt a little bit like betrayal, Clarke thought. Bellamy was in on it too, which she thought she shouldn’t take personally. They weren’t even friends, she reminded herself.

As the match up ceremony began, Clarke kept telling herself that this plan was going to work. Tonight was going to be the night where they had the most perfect matches that they had ever had.

She looked over at the benches, where they now had three perfect matches already lined up. She and Bellamy were bound to have guessed at least one other perfect match.

Monty chose Harper. Raven chose Bellamy. So far, so good, Clarke thought. Miller chose Roan, which was not who she told him to pick. He was supposed to pick Bryan.

Maya chose Jasper. Bryan chose Wells. Then, Clarke chose Anya.

“I am probably not the only one to think this was kind of a random choice, Clarke,” Kane prodded. She knew it probably looked like that. She and Anya really didn’t spend any time together. “May I ask, why didn’t you choose Lexa? You two have spent more time together than you and Anya.”

Clarke pressed her lips together, trying to find a peaceful way to answer this question. “I just thought I should switch up who I match with. It was a strategic choice,” she answered diplomatically. Anya just scrunched up her nose and looked off to the side.

“I have to say, this house has a bad history with making major choices based on strategy alone. I just hope this one works out for you,” Kane explained. She sighed before walking to her seat with Anya. That left Luna and Lexa as the last match, which Clarke honestly felt pretty good about, all things considered.

That night, they got five perfect matches. It was the most the house had ever gotten and they all started cheering. Sure, it wasn’t that much more than the previous week, but after the hell they went through this week, it sure felt like progress.

Octavia was screeching while jumping up and down. Monty and Jasper did that weird self high five thing they kept doing. Bellamy ran up to Clarke and hugged her very tightly. “We just matched half the house,” he said excitedly. She pulled back from the hug, looking up at the huge smile on his face.

“We can totally do this,” she admitted, slightly amazed that this strategy seemed to be working. These happy faces that surrounded her looked nothing like the sullen ones that sulked back to the house last week. They were all going to be okay.


	7. When Mom and Dad Stay Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went ahead and split week seven in half so that I had more time to explore what all goes down on the date. The next chapter will cover the truth booth and match up ceremony. It should be up sometime tomorrow, once I'm done giving my mom the best mother's day ever.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy! You might want to start mentally preparing yourselves for the serious drama that's coming up.

_Raven_

She wasn’t sure she could handle another night of partying. The house had thrown parties for three nights in a row following last week’s match up. That morning, she had woken up under the kitchen table next to Clarke. According to Monty, they were playing hide and seek last night and she and Clarke had just passed out while hiding. She remembered none of this, of course. Two nights ago, she and Roan launched a lip syncing contest… which surprisingly Anya was really into. As much fun as these parties had been, she thought, they weren’t really helping them play the game. No one was really focused on making connections. They were just drinking obscenely and playing whatever stupid game they could think of.

Raven suddenly heard a bang on the table, the sound vibrating in her skull. “Take two of these and drink this glass of water,” Bellamy said before walking back toward the kitchen. She put her head back down on the table before muttering, “thanks, Dad.”

“I’m not your dad,” Bellamy countered.

“You kinda are,” Jasper pointed out. “You’re like this house’s dad.”

“How on earth am I like this house’s dad?”

“I don’t know. You are always cooking breakfast for us. You stay sober when we party to make sure we don’t do anything stupid. You and Clarke keep coming up with plans to help our little house family,” Raven pointed out. She knew they were just taking charge for the sake of the game. But, they were kind of like the mom and dad friends of the house.

“Does that make Clarke the mom?” he asked, sitting down at the table. He was clearly trying to pretend he wasn’t amused by this conversation.

“Yeah. That’s why everything blew up that one week when you two wouldn’t talk to each other. It’s better for the kids when mom and dad stay together,” Jasper joked. Raven choked on her water, trying to hold back her laughter.

“I’m not your mom!” she heard Clarke yell all the way from the living room. That made of them laugh even harder.

“If you guys start fighting again, do we all have to choose whose house we want to go for Christmas?” Jasper asked Bellamy. Bellamy smacked him in the back of the head lightly, before shaking his head and walking back toward the fridge. “Wait, that wasn’t an answer!” Jasper shouted.

God, this house’s dynamic was so weird.

 

_Miller_

Was it possible that Roan was his match? Over the last few days, he had been acting very flirty toward Miller. He wasn’t sure if that meant Roan was into him or not. Everyone had been pretty drunk for the past few days, and Roan tended to get more and more flirty as he drank.

Miller tried to put this out of his head and focus on what Kane was telling them. This week’s challenge was a little bit different than previous weeks. Everyone was competing individually. The winner got to choose who they wanted to go on a date with and could pick another couple.  Miller had hoped that it would just be another race or obstacle course… but of course Kane had something else in mind.

“Each of you will have a camera and you will go off and take a picture of a part of your body that you think other members in the house won’t recognize.” Jasper and Monty started snickering behind him. Raven was rolling her eyes and Maya looked very uncomfortable. “Please keep this photo PG-13, everyone.” Kane clarified. Oh thank God, Miller thought. There were certain parts of his housemates that he didn’t need to be seeing. “Once you all have your photos, each person will try to correctly match each photo to each one of your housemates. The person with the most correct guesses wins.”

Miller thought long and hard about what part of his body to take a picture of. He decided to take a picture of his pinky toe, figuring that most people hadn’t seen him in open-toed shoes.

Next, he had to figure out the rest of the photos. One was of a scar that he definitely knew was Monty’s. There was a close up of an ear that he couldn’t figure out. He guessed Jasper. He kept struggling through the photos, only really feeling good about a handful of them. Who the fuck would take a picture of their elbow, he thought. He looked around at his housemates. Most of them looked like they were struggling as well, so that made him feel better. Whose abs were these and why hadn't he seen them before, he kept wondering. He was surprised more people didn’t pick more… scandalous parts of their bodies. It was a lot of toes and tattoos that normally were well hidden.

Once everyone was done, Kane directed their attention to the screen. He highlighted a few photos that were missed more frequently and announced who they actually belonged to. The last one was a photo that every single one of them missed. It was a tattoo of some symbol he didn’t recognized. It looked like two x’s pushed very close together. The lighting of the photo was a little weird so he couldn’t get a good read on how tan or pale the person was. He had guessed Lexa, just because she seemed like someone who would get a tattoo like that. Then, Kane announced it was Clarke’s photo.

“Where on your body even is that tattoo?” Raven asked, looking surprised that Clarke would have a tattoo in the first place. They were all kind of surprised. She just didn’t seem like the kind of person who would get tattoos.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Clarke responded, winking at Raven as she spoke.

Kane struggled to get everyone’s attention for a few minutes after that. Eventually, they all shut up to hear who the winner was. “With ten correct guesses, this week’s winner is Roan!” Everyone cheered as he jumped up from his seat to go stand by Kane. “Tell me, Roan, how did you guess so many of these correctly?”

“I’m just very observant,” he responded, raising one eyebrow and smirking. Miller chuckled to himself.

“So, who are you taking with you on this date?”

“Miller.” He couldn’t control his smile once he heard that. He had been so worried that all of this had been in his head. He felt so much better knowing that Roan was feeling what he was feeling.

“Do you think the house would vote the two of you into the truth booth?” Kane asked.

“Probably not,” he responded. “They would probably vote to put in one of the other couples in the house since Miller and I are kind of a new thing.”

“Now, Roan, you get to choose which other couple will be up for consideration. That could change the rest of the house’s mind on sending you two into the truth booth. Who will be joining you guys on this date?” Kane asked. Roan’s eyebrows furrowed as he scanned the room, trying to pick a match. If he was thinking strategically, he would pick Monty and Harper. That’s what the rest of the house had discussed the night before. Then, Roan smirked. Oh no, Miller thought. Roan was going rogue.

“Clarke and Bellamy.”

“What? Why?” he heard Bellamy shout. “We had a strategy. We fucking talked about this, dude.” Of course, Miller thought, Roan picked the one pair this house would never vote into the truth booth. Sure, Miller once thought they could actually be a match. But, after seeing how vicious they were to each other after the Finn and Echo incident, he realized that they couldn’t be a match. There was no way this show had a perfect match who hated each other that much.

“Oh my God, mom and dad are having date night!” Jasper screamed before bursting out laughing. He looked over toward Clarke and saw her pinching the bridge of her nose. Next to her, Harper and Monty both looked incredibly disappointed. This was the wrong move, Miller thought. But, Roan had a point. They weren’t going to get a truth booth any other way. It didn’t make strategic sense, so it would never happen.

“I don't want to be your dad,” Bellamy snapped back, looking at Clarke, clearly hoping that she would jump in and say something. She didn’t.

“But, that’s exactly the kind of thing my dad would say,” Jasper replied. A couple of people awkwardly laughed, trying to lighten up the tense atmosphere in the room. Miller sighed and made eye contact with Roan, who looked so smug. Ugh, he thought, this couldn’t end well.

 

_Bellamy_

Bellamy spent most of the morning in a horrible mood. He couldn’t sleep much last night because he shared a room with Maya and Jasper, and they had this horrible habit of staying up all night talking. As if he wasn’t already having enough bad luck… Jasper discovered Maya was very ticklish, forcing Bellamy to get repeatedly woken up by Maya’s shrieks.

He was already dreading going on this date. This was literally the second time he and Clarke got stuck on a date as a strategic move. He spent the better part of that morning arguing with Anya and Monty about how to respond to Roan’s sabotage. A couple of people suggested that the house vote in Clarke and Bellamy just to make a point, but that was just stupid. He knocked that idea out of all their heads, pointing out that at least Roan and Miller had a shot at being a match. They would keep matching up anyway unless it got settled once and for all.

The date that week apparently took place on the other side of the island, which meant that Clarke, Bellamy, Roan and Miller had to get up obscenely early. Between arguing with Anya and searching for his sunscreen, Bellamy barely had time to make his morning coffee. Clarke fell asleep on the ride over, leaving Bellamy alone to listen to Roan and Miller awkwardly flirt. They were definitely not a match, he thought to himself. He knew Miller had a big crush on Roan, but he also knew that Roan was this house’s biggest player.

The two couples were brought to a lagoon where they were going to be paddle boarding. Roan and Miller were so excited and rushed to take off their shirts and shoes before heading to the water.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t exactly have a good sense of balance,” Clarke said, with her brows furrowed together.

“Princess, don’t tell me you’re scared,” he joked.

“I’m not scared!” she snapped. “I just don’t know if I can…”

“You’re scared you’re going to look like an idiot,” he said, smirking. “The possibility of you making a fool out of yourself just made my day.” He started laughing as he walked toward the water, waiting for her to follow.

He had suggested that she try to stand up on the board alone a few times before they both got on. He didn’t really feel like getting knocked into the water while she learned how to keep her balance. After falling into the water twice already, he agreed to hold the board still, so she could get the hang of it.

“How is it that you could be so skilled in a kayak but can’t even keep your stance solid enough to keep from falling over?” he asked.

“Maybe I just need a better teacher,” she shouted back. Oh that’s it, he thought, before shaking the board so that she fell over again. Seconds later, she reemerged at the surface before swimming back to get a hand on the board.

“What the hell, Bellamy?” she spat. But, he had not stopped laughing since she yelped just before hitting the water. He started to push himself onto the board. “What are you doing?”

“We’re both getting on. Maybe my excellent balance will outweigh your complete lack of coordination,” he replied smugly. Once Clarke was securely kneeling on the board, Bellamy started to stand up. “Okay, slowly stand up. Just like you did last time. You got this,” he said, encouragingly. She stood up a little shakily, but managed to get all the way up without them falling over. This was progress, Bellamy thought. She started using the oar to steer them forward. He could see Roan and Miller out much deeper, clearly having a much easier time than he and Clarke were.

Clarke started to sway a little bit to the right. “Easy, princess,” Bellamy warned, putting his hand on her waist to stabilize her. She took a deep breath, and they were doing okay again. Then, a medium sized wave came in, and threw off both of their balance. Bellamy grabbed onto Clarke, in an attempt to reestablish their balance, but it just sped up how quickly they were knocked into the water.

Bellamy reemerged from the surface, grabbing onto the board with his right hand. He looked over to see Clarke had just emerged and was catching her breath. He held out his hand to her, and she quickly grabbed it before he pulled her back toward him.

“You would think I would be better at crashing into the water by now,” she joked, still trying to catch her breath. Her hair had fallen out of its braid and she rested her head on the board for a second. Bellamy wondered if they should even bother getting back up on the board, especially considering how quickly they would fall off again. But, they eventually did. And crashed again. And got back up. And kept crashing back into the water.

The two of them sat on the beach, trying to dry off in the sun before they had to head back.

“What should we try to do tomorrow night?” Bellamy asked, trying to get a jump start on their strategy session.

“Fuck if I know,” Clarke replied. Bellamy sighed in response, not looking forward to going back to the house. He knew that regardless of if Miller and Roan were a match, there was going to be a fight that night. “I’m getting really sick of coming up with these strategies. Last week, it paid off really well and I was so happy. But, then of course someone had to ruin our challenge plan. It’s exhausting.”

Bellamy grunted in agreement. In the days following the last match up ceremony, he experienced a nice little high. Everything was suddenly going right for them. Until yesterday, he had forgotten how infuriating it was to have a solid plan of his thrown out the window just because someone in the house decided they didn’t want to be a team player.

Clarke threw herself backwards, laying down and covering her eyes. “I never asked for this,” she said quietly.

“I mean, you kind of did when you signed up for this show,” he pointed out.

“My mom signed me up, actually,” she said while sighing. Bellamy chuckled a little bit at that. He thought back to the fight he and Octavia had when he found out she had signed him up for this stupid show. He could only imagine that princess here probably reacted in a very similar way upon realizing she would be stuck in a house full of crazies for ten weeks.

“Don’t feel bad. O signed me up too. She pitched it to me saying that at least we would be together and could help each other out. Then, of course, she gets a perfect match, leaving me behind in a house I never wanted to be in,” he pointed out.

“What is it about this game that brings out the worst in everyone?” Clarke asked, suddenly very serious. He glanced over at her and caught a glimpse of sadness in her eyes.

“Did something happen?” he asked, suddenly worried that he had missed out on an incident.

“No. Not really.”

“Is this about Lexa?” He could see that getting on her nerves. Clarke and Lexa seemed like a sure bet, he thought. He never really understood what was going on there.

“It’s not just her. It’s everything. Like before this show, my life was alright. Sure, I wasn’t really dating, but I was perfectly okay with that. Then, I get thrown into this house and got bitch slapped by so much drama,” she ranted. “And then of course, I start to fall for someone who keeps pushing me away. Someone I didn’t even like made a move on me and I had to deal with getting harassed for weeks.” Bellamy nodded in acknowledgement. He didn’t realize how much of a toll the drama would take on her. “And now, all I’m good for is coming up with strategies like some sort of robot who is too cynical to think that everyone should follow their heart. It’s fucking exhausting,” she snapped, covering her face with her hands.

“You done?” he asked. He knew it wasn’t likely she was done ranting. He could still see the tension breaking out on her forehead.

“No, I’m not fucking done!” she said, sitting straight up. “So now I’m this person who is only good for coming up with plans and schemes and then of course I can’t even successfully do that because Roan thinks he is a perfect match with fucking Miller! Not only do I not have a match that works for me, but I also don’t get to successfully keep doing the only thing I seem to be good at!” She waited a moment, before leaning back on her elbows.

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short,” he started, trying to calm her down. “You’re really good at crashing into the water.”

She burst out laughing before muttering a playful “fuck off.” He smiled as he turned back to face the water.

“If it makes you feel any better, I wasted weeks being obsessed with a girl who didn’t give a shit about me and was used as a rebound before turning into your strategic sidekick.”

“God, how did we end up getting so fucked?”

“I don’t know. But, not everyone can be a Murphy and Emori. Maybe all of this struggling just means that it will be more satisfying when we finally figure this stupid game out,” he mused.

Clarke fell asleep on his shoulder on the drive back to the house. Miller and Roan were chatting incessantly, just like they did on the drive up. It didn’t bother him as much this time around, he realized. Sure, he was irritated at the potential drama that would ensue just because these two idiots wanted to go into the truth booth. But, that was a battle for later.

He tilted his head to rest on top of Clarke’s, before letting out a sigh. If anyone could figure out how to win this damn game, it was them. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, enjoying the calm before the storm.


	8. What, No Spooning?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dude, I really tried to keep this one shorter. But, 6k later and now ya'll are stuck with the longest, angstiest chapter yet. I really should have split week seven into three different chapters. Oh well. We live and we learn.
> 
> I should get the next one up by tomorrow. 
> 
> I can't wait to hear what you guys think of everything that goes down here... there's a lot to process. Ya'll have been great. 
> 
> Also, hit me up on Tumblr, I'm asroarke there too!

_Wells_

“What do you mean it was a fucking tie?” Bellamy shouted, not really directed at anyone in particular. Wells had been worried that it would turn out like this. Anya and Lexa had been secretly going around the house convincing people to vote up Bellamy and Clarke. She went after people like Jasper and Monty who tended to agree to schemes like these, mainly because they didn’t want to upset anyone by saying no. Anya pitched it to Wells as a way to remind Roan how the house worked and that he should stop going rogue. He had seen some validity in the argument but really didn’t want to deal with the backlash from Clarke and Bellamy. Clarke was his friend and he was kind of terrified of Bellamy. And he knew that both would be pissed if the house wasted a truth booth just to teach Roan a lesson. Although, given the way Anya was currently glaring at him, he realized he should probably be more scared of her.

He knew that she was only going to try to get six people, the minimum majority, to try and get her way to keep her plan quiet, so he lied to her when he said he would vote up Clarke and Bellamy… which is the reason this ended up in a tie. Thus, the four people who went on the date got to break the tie, and of course all of them would vote for Roan and Miller.

“The house voted and that’s clearly how they felt about this decision,” Lexa said coolly. Clarke looked up toward the ceiling before pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Well, since it’s a tie and we break the vote, Miller and I are going to the truth booth,” Roan declared.

“At least someone in this house is thinking clearly,” Clarke muttered. Bellamy was snarling toward Anya, who had slumped down in her seat. Roan and Miller started walking toward the truth booth, and the living room became uncomfortably quiet.

“I’m assuming Anya and Lexa were two of the five votes. Who were the other three?” Bellamy demanded, suddenly. Everyone on the couch shifted in their seats, looking around the room to see if anyone was going to speak.

“Jasper, Monty, and Harper,” Wells blurted out. All three of them snapped their heads to glare at him. He knew that was kind of a dick move, but Bellamy wasn’t going to let this one go until he knew who went against him.

“What the fuck, guys?” Bellamy shouted, standing up. Clarke stood behind him with an expression Wells couldn’t make sense of. He usually had a good read on her. She didn’t look panicked like she did a few weeks ago, but she almost looked… calm. A little too calm, all of the sudden. Wells couldn’t be the only person to think that was weird. She should be just as angry as Bellamy.

“They did what I asked them to because the plan made sense to them. Roan needed to be reminded that this is a team game. He can’t be rewarded when he acts out like that,” Anya said, very sternly. Raven, who at some point had left the room, came back in holding a bottle of whiskey and plopped down next to Wells. A drink would probably be nice right now, he thought.

At that moment, the back door opened and Miller stormed into the room, slowly followed by Roan. Everyone stared at them, hoping for some kind of verbal description of what happened, but Miller put his hand up, as if to tell everyone to stop. Then, he barreled past the living room toward the hallway where his bedroom was, and everyone stayed silent as the door slammed shut.

 

_Luna_

“I did what I thought was the right thing! How many times do I have to explain that to you guys?” Roan shouted toward Anya and Bellamy, who had apparently put their personal issues aside to gang up on Roan. Half of the house dispersed after Miller ran off. Bryan ran to his room and was doing his best to calm Miller down.

This left a handful of people to witness Anya and Bellamy rip Roan apart. Lexa had stayed quiet, for the most part, only occasionally jumping in to clarify. It was Clarke that was confusing Luna. She hadn’t said a single thing. She kept checking on her, trying to find any signs of an upcoming panic attack. But, she looked like she was breathing okay and seemed very distant from the whole argument. That was a good thing, Luna kept reminding herself. Raven was sitting next to her, drinking straight out of her bottle of whiskey. She kept reminding her to take it easy, but Raven was blowing her off and saying that she can take care of herself. Luna decided not to push it. She and Raven were close but she was still getting to know her. It was best not to push on things like this until she had an idea of how she would respond.

“You should have talked to us before you screwed up the challenge. If you don’t like the decisions we make, it is your job to call us out on it before you decide to go rogue, not after,” Bellamy responded aggressively.

“Like that would have fucking worked.”

“You can’t possibly know that it wouldn’t. It’s not like you tried,” Bellamy pointed out.

“Like how you tried when you went behind the house’s back to get Emori and Murphy into the truth booth? Or are you still going to claim that Clarke ramming that kayak into me was an accident?” Roan snapped back.

“That was different. Emori and Murphy were a perfect match.”

“But you didn’t know that Miller and Roan weren’t a match! The only difference here is that your plan worked out and his didn’t!” Raven jumped in, standing up next to Roan. Luna had worried that Raven would try to get in on this fight. She had been in a weird mood ever since the vote took place. Roan smirked at Bellamy as Raven backed him up.

“And after the stunt Anya pulled today, I’m surprised that I’m the person you are the most angry with.”

“We’re going to talk it out later. It’s on the backburner for now,” Anya pointed out.

“Really? Clarke, is it on the backburner for you, too? What they tried to do to us was not much different than what they tried with Finn and Echo,” Roan pointed out, clearly trying to deflect from his part in all this chaos. Luna could see right through his bullshit. He wanted to start a fight between Bellamy, Clarke, and Anya so that he would stop being the target of this aggressive spat.

Clarke, who had been sitting on the coffee table just listening, looked over at Anya before looking at Roan. She was clenching her jaw, but the rest of her face remained calm. She could see the panic starting to creep over Clarke and wanted to stop it.

“Hey, maybe we should stay focused on one issue at a time,” Luna suggested in the calmest tone she could manage. Clarke looked up and caught her eye, giving her a look of relief before she stood up and started to walk toward the stairs. Luna was right. This was getting a little too intense for Clarke.

“Clarke, don’t just walk away from this. I asked you a fucking question!” Roan shouted, walking quickly toward her. Bellamy, who suddenly looked really worried, grabbed Roan’s shoulder to try and pull him back. “Dude, stop. She clearly has something that she’s not saying and I can’t wait to hear what it is.”

“Roan, knock it off,” Bellamy warned, stepping in front of Roan. Anya had also stepped in behind Bellamy, backing him up.

“Come on, Clarke. Don’t hold back on me!” Roan called out. Clarke had kept her back to the rest of the people in the room up until this point. She whipped around with a terrifying expression that Luna was all too familiar with. It was the same creepy grin she had on before she blew up at Bellamy the night of the Finn and Echo disaster.

“Do you really want to know what I think?” she asked, her grin unwavering. Luna saw Raven tense up out of the corner of her eye. “I think,” she continued, stepping past Anya and Bellamy toward Roan, “that you fucked up a perfectly good plan. I think you are selfish.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Roan warned, stepping closer to her, towering over her.

“I’m sorry, did I look like I was done talking?” she said, a little too calmly with just a hint of sharpness in her tone.

“Clarke,” Bellamy said in a concerned tone, placing his hand on her shoulder. She swatted it away before looking back up at Roan.

“You know how I know you’re selfish? You’re in here bitching at us instead of comforting Miller, who just hours ago you were allegedly so in love with. That’s fucked up, Roan! Does it even bother you that his heart is broken?” she chastised. He looked like he was about to interrupt, but instead took a step backward. Clarke, then, took a step to close the gap he had just tried to create. “What’s wrong? I thought you wanted to hear what I had to say. You know why else you’re selfish? You took away Harper and Monty’s chance at getting into a honeymoon suite. You made a mistake that could potentially cost everyone in this house the game. You fucked up!”

Luna could feel herself tense up, listening to this. Clarke was going to break, she could hear it in her voice. Sure, she kept her volume under control, but the sharpness in her tone could cut through a diamond. And there was nothing Luna could really do to stop it.

“Excuse me for not jumping behind all of your plans, Clarke. Maybe not everyone in this house is fine with you and your boyfriend dictating how we should match up. Maybe it’s kind of fucked up to expect us to ignore what we feel in our hearts just to go along with whatever is going on in your little head,” he muttered down to her. “Some of us still have feelings.”

“Is that what you tell yourself? To make you feel better? Everything I have done was to help this house. At least I’m not the one screwing half the house and then gas-lighting them for getting upset when you toss them aside,” she growled, stepping forward causing Roan to stumble back.

Lexa tried to jump in, “Clarke, you shouldn’t---“

“Shut the fuck up, Lexa!” Clarke screamed, turning around to expose a red face. Lexa jumped back, clearly not expecting such an aggressive interruption. “Just because I’m ripping you apart right now doesn’t mean I don’t want to. I haven’t fucking forgotten how you helped Anya try to sabotage the truth booth tonight! There is literally nothing you can say right now that will fix that!” Clarke continued to shout, tears forming in her eyes as her face got redder. Luna could see that Jasper and Harper had begun to creep down the stairs to see what the commotion was.

Lexa and Anya shared a worried look, both of their shoulders slumped. Bellamy still looked tense, but stepped closer to Clarke.

“You need to get your girlfriend in line,” Roan muttered toward Bellamy, as Bellamy shot him a warning look. Clarke snapped back around and lunged at Roan, before Bellamy grabbed her by the waist pulling her back. Roan stumbled backwards, almost falling onto the couch, before walking briskly into the kitchen, frequently checking over his shoulder to make sure Bellamy still had a good grip on Clarke.

“Bellamy, let me go!” Clarke yelled, tears pouring out of her eyes. Anya and Lexa followed Roan into the kitchen, looking over their shoulders to see if Bellamy still had Clarke. “Let me go, I swear to God Bellamy. Let me go!” she kept yelling, trying to squirm out of his arms.

“Roan! We’re not done with you!” Luna heard Lexa yell, followed by the sounds of the three of them storming down the hallway. She looked over at the couch, but Raven had gone. When did she disappear, she wondered.

“Clarke, stop,” Bellamy said calmly. She slowly stopped squirming, trying to catch her breath. Luna started to walk toward the kitchen when she realized that Bellamy had a good handle on the situation. “You’re okay,” she heard Bellamy whisper.

“No, I’m not,” she heard Clarke say, sort of muffled. She turned her head to check on them one last time. Clarke had her face buried into Bellamy’s chest and he was still holding on to her. She looked like she was trying to get her breathing under control. He was running his fingers through her hair, resting his head on top of hers. Yeah, Luna thought, Bellamy has a good handle on this. Clarke will be just fine. Luna turned back around to go find Raven.

 

_Anya_

 

“We need to work with them,” she said to Lexa. They were sitting outside by the pool, trying to steer clear of the rest of the house. Anya had already yelled at Wells, not expecting Monty and Maya to gang up on Anya on his behalf. She needed to keep her anger in check, she realized. She liked to believe that she hadn’t had a hand in the chaos and drama that had plagued this house in the past… but she knew better after tonight. She was just as bad as the rest of them.

“You heard Clarke. That’s not possible,” Lexa replied coolly, before glancing down at her beer.

“She was upset. She didn’t mean to come after you like that.”

“No, she did. She has been bottling this up since the day I told her I didn’t really see us being together. She’s never called me out directly before. It was only a matter of time.”

“You know she cares about you.”

“I don’t think she does anymore. I think the only reason she didn’t fight with me on stuff like this in the past is because she didn’t want to say something she’d regret.” Lexa’s face looked so grim and sad. Anya had heard Lexa’s explanation for their split a few times before and understood, yet knew it was still taking its toll on Lexa. “Tonight, she said something she’d regret without even trying to hold back. I think that means she doesn’t care anymore,” Lexa said, tearing up a little. Anya grabbed her hand to reassure her.

“It’s okay. It’s hard to move on. But, you need to remember that ending things was kind of your decision,” Anya felt the need to point out.

Lexa let out a few quiet tears before saying quietly, “It’s just frustrating to be around her sometimes. There are these two distinct sides of her, the soft compassionate side and the strong side where she will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. I like both of those sides of her, but it’s so inconsistent. It’s confusing and frustrating and exhausting.”

“I know, you’ve told me,” Anya reminded, stroking the top of her hand with her thumb.

“What if she actually is my match? What am I supposed to do if we get thrown into the truth booth? Then, I get taken from the house and I’m trapped with someone I’m not sure about. I just have this creeping feeling that she could be my match, but I also have this gut feeling that a relationship would never work out. And then, I’d lose her as a friend.” She finally turned to face Anya. “Anya, I’m scared.”

Anya thought about what Lexa just described. There was no reason that the house needed to truth booth them. They could focus on other couples who had been more consistent and use the process of elimination to figure out if they were a match. They were only one match away from figuring week four out, she thought. If they could get Jasper and Maya into the truth booth, that could tell them what they needed to know. If they were a match, then the house would know once and for all that Lexa and Clarke weren’t a match. It was more likely that they would be the match from that week anyway, Anya justified.

“I won’t let you get voted into the truth booth with her. I promise,” Anya reassured. Lexa returned a soft smile in response. “I say we get some sleep tonight, and let Clarke have some time to calm down. Then, we need to work with her and Bellamy on a plan for tomorrow. Between the four of us, we can convince everyone else in the house to follow the plan.”

“Not Roan,” she pointed out. Ugh, Roan. Anya had momentarily forgotten about that asshole.

“We’ll work around Roan and just pray that he’s one of the last people Kane calls on tomorrow night.”

 

_Clarke_

“Clarke?” she heard someone whisper. She kept her eyes clenched shut, hoping whoever it was would think she was asleep and leave her alone. She hardly slept last night after being pissed off about Roan’s stunt at the challenge. She had gotten in two little naps on the way to and from the date, but it wasn’t enough to replenish her sleep deprivation.

“Clarke, please wake up,” she heard, before she begrudgingly opened her eyes. For fuck’s sake, Bellamy. She rolled over to put her back to him and pulled her pillow over her head.

“Whatever it is, no,” she whispered, making sure her tone still came off as scathing. People in this house really needed to learn when to pick their battles with her, she thought.

“We have a situation we need to deal with,” he whispered.

She groaned. “Tell the kids that I said to listen to their father and to leave me the fuck alone.” She rolled back over to see Bellamy giving her his way too serious glare, the same one he gave her earlier when he warned her not to let Roan get a rise out of her. She turned her head to look at the clock. It was three in the morning. “Whatever it is, it can wait until morning. I’m exhausted, Bellamy,” she whispered.

“Clarke, please,” he begged.

“Okay let me be perfectly clear. The only way I’m getting out of this bed is if you physically drag me out,” she said in a sharp tone. Bellamy looked over to where Harper was still sleeping. He then looked back at Clarke, before throwing her covers off her bed and grabbing her. “What are you doing?” she hissed as he threw her over his arm and started toward the door.

“Shhh. You’ll wake up Harper,” he said jokingly. She tried to quietly smack his back and shoulders as he took her out of the room.

“Put me down, damnit,” she snapped once they were in the hallway. He complied, with a smirk on his face. Clarke suddenly felt really uncomfortable after realizing that she was only sleeping in a t-shirt. Was this inappropriate? No, she justified. They’re both adults. He’s seen her in a swimsuit. There’s nothing going on here that he hadn’t already seen before, she reassured herself.

“We have another Roan problem,” he said, suddenly back to being serious.

“Like I said, it can wait until tomorrow. I want to go back to bed,” she said, starting back toward her door. Bellamy grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“He and Raven are hooking up right now,” he blurted out. Clarke turned around, probably looking like a deer in the headlights.

“What the actual fuck?”

“Miller is going to lose his shit.”

“So will Luna.”

“Wait, what?” he asked. Clarke realized that their relationship might not be common knowledge yet. Clarke had just noticed the overprotective way Luna watched over Raven and how Raven became a softer person whenever Luna was around.

“Yeah, there’s something going on with them. I didn’t even think Roan and Raven were close though.”

“They weren’t. I don’t know what changed,” he whispered back.

“Wait how did you find out about this?” she asked, suddenly curious about who all knew and could be going around talking about it.

“My bed is right next to the wall of the room they’re in and I overheard it.”

“No one else knows?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Can we keep it that way?” she asked, suddenly thinking through how badly it would blow up in everyone’s faces if the entire house knew.

“That could backfire… but we could delay letting people know. You know, give Miller time to heal and avoid a blow up before the match up ceremony. We really shouldn’t be giving Kane more material to start fights with,” he pointed out. Yeah, delaying was probably the best option.

“Okay, so we don’t say anything to anyone until after the match up so that we have time to calm things down before next week. Can we both go back to bed now?” Bellamy looked down at his feet once she said that.

“I’m going to have a hard time doing that with Roan and Raven, you know…”

“They can’t be that loud,” she replied.

“Raven is very, uh, vocal,” he said with an awkward facial expression. Oh right. She had forgotten they had hooked up.

She waited a moment, feeling a little weird about what she was going to suggest. “Bell, do you want to stay in here for tonight?” she asked, gesturing toward the door.

“Oh, no I wasn’t saying that just so you would---“ She grabbed him by the wrist before pulling him into her room. Harper was still out like a light, thank God. Clarke headed back toward her bed before patting on the other side of it, gesturing for Bellamy to get in. He glanced at her with his brows furrowed, clearly still hesitant about sleeping in her bed.

“You need sleep. Get the fuck in this bed right now,” Clarke whispered harshly. He threw his head back before reluctantly climbing in on the other side. “And stay on that side of the bed.”

“What, no spooning?” he joked. She hit him in the head with her pillow and he kept chuckling. She laid back down and turned onto her side, her back facing him.

“In all seriousness, thank you,” he whispered before she heard him shift into a comfortable position.

“In all seriousness, if you wake me up again at three in the morning, I will---“

“I know. I just needed to talk to you.” Clarke didn’t really know how to feel about that. Sure, she and Bellamy had begun to rely on each other more and more each week. She’d like to say it was all for the sake of strategy and making decisions for the house. But, she knew deep down it was more than that. Somehow, the jackass who she fought with since getting into this house had become her closest friend. Maybe he felt the same way.

It was sweet how he calmed her down after the fight with Roan, but he could have just been doing that so she wouldn’t attack him. Maybe he cared about her too, she wondered before turning on her other side and coming face to face with him. He was already asleep, but she couldn’t turn her mind off. She was too busy trying to figure out how she could have been so wrong about Bellamy Blake.

 

_Monty_

 

“So, does this count as a double date?” Jasper asked. Monty was sitting at the kitchen table with Jasper, Maya, and Harper, eating breakfast. They had all gotten up earlier than usual, in an attempt to eat their breakfast and get out before anyone else got up. Last night took a really dark turn and they really didn’t want to witness the sequel to whatever the hell happened in there last night.

“I haven’t even brushed my hair, so no,” Maya joked, eating her cereal.

“And I have huge bags under my eyes because Clarke and Bellamy kept waking me up last night,” Harper muttered.

“Are mom and dad fighting again?” Monty asked with a grin, kind of loving their new nicknames for Clarke and Bellamy.

“Nah, but they seemed really worked up about something. Honestly, I don’t really give a shit,” she replied.

“Ah cool cool cool. So, what I’m hearing you say is that something is going to go down tonight?” Jasper asked, causing Maya to giggle.

“It’s a match up ceremony. Of course something is going to go down. You know Kane sees all the footage from the week beforehand, so he knows exactly what to ask to start fights.”

“Low key, does he get off on watching us fight like high schoolers?” Jasper blurted out.

“Nah, I feel like it’s more like the Sims. When he gets bored playing with the sims in his house, he starts doing weird shit to make it interesting again,” Harper joked.

“Holy fuck, yes! This game is exactly like Sims!” Jasper practically shouted.

“Let’s just hope he doesn’t try to drown us in a pool like Jasper does to his sims,” Monty joked, sparking a huge laugh from all of them.

“I don’t know, after last night, being drowned by Kane doesn’t sound so bad,” Maya replied, with a smirk.

 

_Bellamy_

Nothing could possibly be worse than the Finn versus Raven match up ceremony, he kept telling himself. Bellamy wasn’t sure if he was just lying to himself, though. He had felt uneasy all day about all the possible things that could go wrong during the ceremony. There were still so many pairings that the house wasn’t sure of, he reminded himself.

Lexa and Anya paired up with him and Clarke that afternoon to make a game plan for the ceremony. They wanted to keep the couples they felt solid about together and switch around the seemingly random ones from the previous week. It was a good way to test out if they were correct about the matches they felt good about and hopefully find one or more match that they hadn’t considered before in the process.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about being matched with Raven, especially after what went down with Roan last night. It wasn’t that he disliked Raven; she was great. They probably would have been close friends if they hadn’t stupidly slept together. But now Bellamy can’t stop feeling like someone Raven kept around as a backup option. He knew that wasn’t fair. It was a casual hook up. She was rebounding and was very up front about that fact. And he wasn’t interested in being with her anyway. It was just a little bit of a letdown to think that his perfect match wasn’t someone who would want to put him first.

The four of them gave out instructions to everybody about who they needed to choose that night to test these theories. He let Clarke be the one to convince Roan. He has proven time and time again that he has no interest in listening to Anya and Lexa, and Bellamy wasn’t sure he could keep calm enough to have a civil conversation. Clarke, on the other hand, was now considered to be somewhat of a loose cannon. Roan literally jumped when she walked in the room to talk to him, Bellamy noticed. She was perfectly calm and pleasant, but she spoke to him in a smile that said ‘I’ll work with you if you want but if you go behind my back again, I will smother you in your sleep.’

Most of the house seemed pretty okay with their plan, but that didn’t stop Bellamy from feeling anxious. He didn’t trust Roan anymore and had no idea what headspace Miller was in. A few hours had passed since they dispersed the plan… a lot can change in that time.

Kane spent the first few minutes checking in with the honeymoon suite couples. He couldn’t help but be jealous of how happy Octavia looked. He was happy for her… it just drove him insane that this wasn’t as easy for him. He was clenching his jaw without realizing it. He felt something bump his arm and looked over to see Clarke nudging him.

“We’re going to be fine,” she reassured. But, she was very wrong because the first person Kane called forward was Roan. Bellamy held his breath. Pick Anya, for the love of God, he thought.

“Well, Kane,” he said, turning around to look back at his fellow contestants with a smirk. Oh fuck. “Tonight my match is Maya.”

“What the actual fuck?” Murphy shouted from his bench. Maya walked up to join Roan, with a solemn expression on her face while Anya and Lexa shared a panicked look. Roan just threw this entire week away.

“Maya, I can’t help but notice that you seemed startled by this decision. Clearly, this was not your plan. So, Roan, can I ask why you chose Maya?” Kane asked, in a mock curious tone. That son of a bitch knew exactly why Roan did it. He chose Roan to go first on purpose. It wasn’t until this point that Bellamy realized he was gripping tightly onto something. He looked down and saw his hand intertwined with Clarke’s. Did he grab her hand or did she grab his? He didn’t remember either happening. Maybe he just grabbed the nearest thing he could for support. He let go, suddenly, realizing that he had probably been squeezing the hell out of her poor little hand.

“I feel like this house has fallen into the habit of picking some of the same matches week after week. And, I’m sure you’ve noticed, we’ve never gotten more than five matches. I thought this week would be a good time to switch up some of the old pairings to see if we could get more beams of light at the end of the night,” he declared in the most rehearsed, diplomatic way possible. He fucking planned this.

“Next up, Jasper!” Oh fuck, Bellamy realized, Jasper probably didn’t know who Roan was supposed to choose and no one had the time to remind him before he got up there. “I’m sure you weren’t too happy about Roan choosing Maya.” Jasper frantically nodded, clearly not prepared for making his choice. He looked back at the group, trying to figure out who he would choose. And he picked Raven. He saw Clarke clench her jaw out of the corner of his eyes. He had to make sure she didn’t murder Roan tonight.

And of course Kane chose Bellamy next. He had been too busy trying to keep his anger in check to think through who he should pick, to minimize the number of random matches made that night. Who was Roan supposed to pick again, he wondered. Whoever that was probably should be his match, just so the rest of the matches could stay on track. He got up to Kane and his mind went completely blank. Who was it? He had just remembered a few minutes ago. He looked back to his housemates, thinking someone would jump out at him. Fuck. He was going to have to guess.

And he guessed wrong because as soon as he said Wells’ name, he saw Clarke press her lips together. He sat down with Wells on his bench, making sure to stay near enough to Roan. It was Anya. That was his match. Fuck.

Then, Miller got called up, shooting Bellamy a frustrated glance. Bellamy threw his head back. Ugh, he had accidentally taken Miller’s match.

Miller chose Bryan, who was supposed to end up with Luna that night. Bellamy started to feel sick to his stomach, knowing just how badly they had all screwed up. He should have known Roan was going to pull this stunt. He should have made sure to go over in detail with everyone all the matches, not just the ones they were in. He should have tried harder to keep his cool with Roan last night so that none of this would have even happened.

God, he should have just let Clarke punch him. It might not have fixed anything, but it would make him feel better if Roan had a black eye. He imagined Clarke would have one hell of a right hook.

Luna, now without her match, was called up next. Please pick Anya, he thought. Wait, fuck, Luna is a confirmed non-match with Anya. She wasn’t going to pick her.

She picked Harper and split up one of the couples the house was certain of.

Then, Clarke chose Lexa, letting Bellamy breathe for half a second. At least one of their planned matches actually worked out.

“You know, I’m kind of surprised to see the two of you paired up again. From what I’ve heard, the two of you had been on the outs. Lexa, how do you feel about Clarke picking you?”

“Well, we had actually planned on matching so there’s not much to it,” she replied coolly.

“So, can I ask why you two keep matching up even though you don’t seem to actually want to be together? It just seems kind of silly to me.”

“Well, based on what we’ve all learned on this show, matches aren’t always romantic. Clarke and I seem pretty compatible, technically speaking. We found out we didn’t really work romantically, so we’re having a go at being friends. I’m trying to move on and Clarke already has,” she explained. Clarke snapped her head around to look at Lexa. Lexa and Clarke shot each other strange, confused glances. “What? I’m fine with it. When I came in to find you this morning, I saw you and Bellamy in bed together. I’m okay with it.” Bellamy felt the redness creeping into his cheeks as everyone else stared at him with very confused faces.

“What the fuck is even going on in that house, guys?” Finn shouted. Bellamy sunk back in his seat, starting to feel sick to his stomach again. Octavia kept turning around to look at him, trying to make eye contact. But, Bellamy wouldn’t meet her gaze.

“It’s not like that,” Clarke explained, in a very defensive tone. “We didn’t sleep together. Well, wait, we did literally sleep together as in he slept in my bed but that’s all.”

“Oh my God, mom and dad are actually together!” Jasper shouted, which was followed by a few oooohs and giggles.

“No, he just came into my room because he couldn’t sleep in his.”

“Bellamy, why exactly couldn’t you sleep in your room?” Kane asked suspiciously.

“I kept getting woken up by---“ Bellamy cut himself off, remembering why he couldn’t answer that question honestly. He and Clarke agreed that they would do everything they could to keep the Raven and Roan secret until after this ceremony. “By, uh, Jasper’s snoring.” He let out a deep breath that he didn’t realize he was holding.

“Bull shit. I don’t snore,” Jasper said, calling him out. “He probably couldn’t sleep for the same reason I couldn’t. Roan and Raven’s banging was so damn loud.” Fuck. There it was. Damnit, Jasper. He should have figured that if he had heard them, Jasper probably did too. Miller stormed out of the room and Bryan followed him. They never came back to the ceremony.

He remembered what Clarke had said about Luna and glanced over at her. She didn’t have as obvious of a reaction as Miller, but she was closing her eyes and cupping her hands over her mouth.

They waited a few minutes to see if Miller would come back, but he didn’t. The audience would love that drama, Bellamy cynically thought. While Anya and Monty locked in their match, he saw Clarke lean forward to whisper to Roan.

“You pleased with yourself?”

“Just remember this next time you decide to come after me,” Roan snapped back, shooting her a dirty look. Bellamy leaned closer toward them, just in case he needed to jump in.

“Sweetie, I crashed into your kayak just to get my way. I almost attacked you last night because you pissed me off. But, I haven’t begun to come after you. Trust me,” she muttered, “you better hope I never decide to come after you.”

Hours later, Bellamy could hear the echo of Miller and Roan’s fight vibrating through the house. He grabbed a beer and started walking toward the noise. Four fucking matches, he muttered to himself. It was the seventh week and they got less than half of the matches. They were so screwed. He wandered down the hallway and saw Clarke sitting on the floor across from Miller’s room. She had her sketchbook out and looked incredibly focused.

He plopped down next to her, taking another swig of beer.

“It was a drunken mistake, Miller!” he heard Roan shout.

“Are you listening in on their fight?” he asked Clarke.

“I’m trying not to and have been doing an okay job. I just wanted to be out here in case things got too heated and someone needed to intervene,” she replied, not looking up from her drawing. He nodded in response. He had the exact same idea.

“So, you get pissed off and then get hammered. That’s how you explain Raven? Then, how the fuck do you explain what you pulled tonight?” Miller screeched and Bellamy could hear the tears in his voice. It hurt to listen to his friend feel like this.

“I’m sick and tired of other people in this house telling us that we can’t be trusted to pick our match. I’m not some lovesick idiot that needs to be monitored!” Roan yelled back.

“He has a point there,” Bellamy whispered to Clarke, and she nodded in response. “You know, you can’t keep threatening him. It’s only making it worse,” Bellamy warned. He had also seen a side of Roan in the last few days that he wasn’t comfortable with. He didn’t want Clarke to continue to go head to head with him, especially if he wasn’t there to monitor the situation.

“I know,” she muttered before tilting her head up toward him. “Would you threaten him for me?” she asked, doing a mock pout.

“Anything for you, princess,” he joked, leaning his head back against the wall, running through what went down at the match up ceremony. Maybe he and Clarke should have let the house think they were together. No one would have questioned why he slept in her bed. Then, Jasper never would have dropped that bomb.

No. He should have let Clarke punch him last night. She could have broken his nose and Raven wouldn’t have slept with him. Then, maybe Roan would have thought before ruining the plan, fearing Clarke’s reaction.

But no, Bellamy did the right thing instead. Idiot, he muttered to himself. He really hated doing the right thing.


	9. Strategy No Stategy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got this one up quicker than I thought. There's not much drama in this chapter, but a little blend of angst and fluff. Don't worry. There's plenty of time for drama next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it and I can't wait to hear what you think! Ya'll are seriously great. Thanks for the love.

_Echo_

“I’m sorry, but it was a total clusterfuck,” Emori muttered before sipping her mimosa. Echo was at brunch with her fellow honeymoon suiters the morning after the match up ceremony. It had kind of become a tradition once Octavia and Lincoln had left the house. Echo kind of liked it. They all gossiped about what was going on in the house and speculated on matches.

“When did Roan and Raven become a thing?” Finn asked, still very confused. Echo wondered if he was jealous of Roan, before shaking her own head. He wasn’t still interested in her, she kept reminding herself. There’s no need to get so worked up over nothing.

“He’s an attractive dude, though. I totally see the appeal,” Murphy argued, stabbing his pancakes with a fork.

“Honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t hooked up with more people in the house at this point,” Echo added, remembering just how hard it was to resist his charm that first night. He was the kind of guy anyone could fall hard for but never really know anything about. He had walls around him that would take a damn sledgehammer to break down.

Octavia and Lincoln had been pretty quiet the whole meal. Echo wondered if Octavia knew something the rest of them didn’t. She was Bellamy’s sister, after all. Maybe they talked after the ceremony.

“Those fucking idiots are going to cost us the game if they don’t get their shit together,” Emori muttered and Murphy started shaking his head. Echo furrowed her brows, kind of annoyed at their situation. The six of them were the only people in the house to actually do what they were supposed to come here and do. They found their match. It was infuriating that the people who seemed to have the best instincts in this game have to leave the house, leaving the dumb dumbs behind scrambling. Echo wasn’t counting herself in this, though. She knew her and Finn getting matched was an accident. They probably would be still running around like chickens with their heads cut off like the rest of the house if they hadn’t gone into that truth booth.

She would like to think that she and Finn would have found each other on their own time, but she wasn’t sure. Maybe if she had made an effort the first night to talk to him the first night before he started talking to Raven and she started talking to Bellamy…

She looked over at him as he was engaged in a debate about the final matches with Murphy. Finn’s theory was that Anya and Lexa were matches but Murphy wasn’t buying it.

Honestly, the last few weeks with Finn hadn’t been terrible. He was sweet… which is something Echo never really looked for in a partner before. They hung out by the beach together during most days and watched trashy reality TV shows at night. He talked incessantly about some book series that Echo knew she’d never actually read. If was any good, she could just wait for the movie, she argued. He also talked in his sleep. He just never stopped talking, she noticed. But, she didn’t mind. A lot of the time she didn’t really know what he was talking about, but she kind of liked listening to him talk.

They were friends. And, it had been a long time since Echo could really call someone her friend.

“Octavia, you’ve been really quiet,” Emori pointed out. They all kind of nodded in agreement at that observation. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

Octavia put down her bloody Mary, before looking up and saying with a frustrated expression, “How did all of us miss Bellamy and Clarke being a match?” Murphy choked a little bit on his drink and Finn shot Echo a confused look. That’s ridiculous, she thought. There was no way---

Oh God, they fucking are! How did she not see it before? She looked around the table and everyone else seemed to be making the same realization.

“Dude, I saw them holding hands during the ceremony and I just was like ‘aww they’re becoming friends’ like a fucking idiot,” Emori muttered, prompting a laugh from everyone at the table.

 

_Luna_

 

It was mid-afternoon, but the house had remained quiet for most part. A lot of people couldn’t fall asleep until after two in the morning, likely from the fighting going on throughout the house. Luna avoided talking to everyone since the ceremony, especially Raven.

How could she have been so stupid, she wondered. She couldn’t believe that she convinced herself she and Raven could be a match. She was taking Raven’s friendliness as a sign of something that wasn’t really there.

That wasn’t Raven’s fault, she kept reminding herself. Yeah, Raven never told her she had feelings for her. Raven hadn’t acted romantic toward her, despite how much Luna tried to read into their interactions. And it’s not like this was the first time Raven threw herself into a random hookup like that.

Luna liked to think that she knew Raven pretty well. She knew she was the smartest person in this house but incredibly stupid when it comes to anything emotional. It was like Finn brought down all those walls she had built up, and when he hurt her, Raven built them right back up, stronger than before. She wasn’t ready to let anyone in after that, meaning Luna would have to be pretty stupid to think they had something real.

She kept looking out toward the pool, vaguely remembering the party they all had there eight weeks ago. That was before anyone hurt each other and they were all just strangers who were excited to fall in love. How did they get here?

She heard the back door open and turned her head. It was Raven, who suddenly donned a deer in the headlights kind of face.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to, uh, disturb you. I didn’t think anyone else was out here,” she said nervously.

“It’s fine,” Luna replied coolly before turning her attention back toward the pool. Raven cautiously sat down in one of the chairs by Luna, not saying anything else.

The two of them sat in silence. Raven clearly was upset about something and Luna really wanted to ask her if she needed to talk. But, Luna remembered, she needed to put herself first. She can’t keep falling for someone who wouldn’t be there to catch her.

 

_Miller_

There was a really small room in the back of the house that no one ever went to. It had become Miller’s hide out when drama broke out throughout the house. He supposed it was intended as an office… but it wasn’t like the producers of Matched really thought anyone in this house would be doing actual work, so it had a small couch and lounge chairs.

His throat still felt dry from his loud fight with Roan the night before. Bryan had done a good job of cheering him up after, he remembered with a small smile on his face. Though, he was glad Bryan had stopped hovering and gave him some space. It was sweet that he was so worried, but God he didn’t want to talk about Roan anymore.

He heard a knock on the door and thought maybe he had spoken too soon.

Then, Bellamy came in instead, carrying two beers. “How you feeling?” he asked, before plopping down on the couch next to Miller and propping his feet up on the table.

“Better,” he replied. It was true. He was feeling better. He now knew that there was no way in hell Roan would ever be a good fit for him.

“Come on, I know you have more to say than that,” Bellamy said, giving him a raised eyebrow.

“I’m still trapped in this house without having a clue who my match actually is. How the fuck do you think I feel?” he snapped.

Bellamy shrugged his shoulders, before responding, “I know the feeling, man.”

“No, you really don’t,” Miller snapped back, probably a little too harshly. But, he and Bellamy were not in the same situation.

“Dude, I’m not even sure if Raven is my match.”

“I wasn’t talking about Raven.”

Bellamy shifted in his seat before swallowing. He kept his gaze fixed on his beer. Miller just rolled his eyes.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he finally muttered. Ugh, Miller thought. Was he really going to be stupid about this? Like he gets why Bellamy might want to deny something like this to other people in the house, but he shouldn’t bother with Miller. He fucking saw them on that date. He watched him tease her and playfully knock her into the water. He saw her smile when Bellamy used the flimsiest excuses to touch her. They freaking slept on each other on the way back from that date. It’s not like they’re being subtle here, he thought. Miller had seen all of it.

“There are a lot of idiots in this house. You might just be the biggest idiot, though.”

 

_Clarke_

 

“Ugh, I don’t want to get up to go back inside but I’m so hungry,” Jasper groaned. Clarke was laying out by the pool with Jasper, Anya, Harper and Bryan. It was kind of nice to just hang out with her housemates, without having to worry about the dumb competition.

“Clarke, don’t you have a granola bar or something in your bag?” Bryan asked.

“Oh yeah,” she said, reaching into her bag and pulling out the bar and tossing it toward Jasper. “Here.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Jasper said giddily as he frantically pulled off the wrapper.

Clarke slipped her sunglasses down so that Jasper could see her eyes as she glared at him. “I’m not your mom. We’ve been over this.”

“I don’t know… you do keep snacks in your purse. That’s kind of a mom thing to do,” Harper argued. Ugh, Clarke thought. They were never going to let this go.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. You should just lean into it like Bellamy is doing,” Jasper said pointing toward the patio. She turned to follow his gesture and there was Bellamy… reading a newspaper, brows furrowed and sipping his coffee. It’s like he’s trying to look like a middle-aged dad. Good God, she thought.

“I think in our house’s weird little family tree, Roan is our drunk uncle that only shows up on Thanksgiving and always ruins dinner,” Bryan joked. Oh God, not him too, Clarke thought. She had hoped this mom and dad joke would die down by now, but now even Bryan was in on it.

“Oh my God, he is!” Harper screeched. Clarke let out an audible ugh while the rest of them started laughing like hyenas. Clarke pulled off her cover up and headed toward the pool, not really in the mood to deal with this running joke. She wasn’t the mom friend, she thought to herself. She was more like a cool aunt if anything. Moms don’t get drunk and party with you. Yeah, there was no way she was the mom here, she thought as she jumped into the pool.

She stayed underwater for just a moment longer, not really ready to resurface. It was calming to hear the muffled sound of all of the “kids” laughing. Sure, the last two days had been incredibly hard. But, she needed these little moments of fun if she was going to make it to week ten. When she reemerged, she saw that Bellamy had come over and taken her seat.

“You know, she also keeps ibuprofen and stain remover wipes in her bag,” she heard him mutter to Jasper.

“Of course she does because she’s a mom!” Harper yelled, trying to hold back her laughter. Clarke swam back over toward them, and splashed Bellamy with water. He whipped his head around to look at her, smirking.

“Watch it, princess.”

 

_Bellamy_

“Who knew Kane had such good game?” Wells joked to him. They were sitting around waiting for the results of the challenge, watching with weird interest as Kane flirted with this woman who had come in to help with the challenge.

This week, they brought in a couple of people who were friends with or related to some of the people in the house. Each person they brought in answered three questions about who their loved one was and they had to guess who it was. Winner got to take whoever they want on a date along with another pair of their choosing.

The woman he was flirting with was one of the few he couldn’t guess. She kind of resembled Lexa, but didn’t seem like the kind of person who would be Lexa’s mom, Bellamy thought.

“Can you guys stop ogling my mom?” Clarke said abruptly. Bellamy turned to look at her with a confused face.

“Wait, that’s your mom?” Jasper jumped in, trying his best to keep his voice down. “Are you going to let us meet grandma?” Clarke shot him a look that had Monty bent over laughing. Something was different about Clarke, Bellamy had noticed.

“Wasn’t your hair up earlier?” he asked.

“Yeah, but,” she said as she pulled her hair back to reveal a small tattoo behind her ear, “my mom doesn’t know about this yet and I hadn’t exactly expected to see her today.”

“What symbol even is that?”

“It’s a Norse one that roughly translates to ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’… I got it in my rebellious phase.” Oh, that had to be a good story, he thought, wondering how rebellious this girl could actually be as he chuckled to himself.

“Alright everyone! Now that we have had time to tally up the scores, will our guests please go stand with their loved one?” Kane asked, in a very authoritarian tone. He seemed a little different, Bellamy noted. He was probably trying hard to look good, in an attempt to impress Clarke’s mom. He’d be pissed if Kane found a love connection on this game before Bellamy did, he thought.

There were only seven guests there, which made the whole reveal process go by much quicker. He didn’t have anyone from back home there, which he shouldn’t be surprised by. The best person for that job was his sister, who the house already knew. But, he looked around as Monty hugged his mom. Yeah, he had guessed that one correctly. Clarke’s mom looked really happy to see her, Bellamy noticed. That guy Sinclair was apparently there for Raven… but he didn’t think they were related. Maybe he was a family friend. What he didn’t expect was to see Roan tear up a little bit when his mom ran up to him. After all the macho bullshit Roan had been pulling lately, it was kind of nice to be reminded that he can get emotional.

He didn’t stress too much over who won the competition. It didn’t really matter. The house made an agreement last night that this week’s strategy was to have no strategy at all. Everyone needed to take this week to solidify their current connections or move on to new ones. There was no point in trying to make a plan after what happened last week. It was clear that everyone needed to fully believe in these plans if they were even going to work out. Otherwise, they’ll have another Roan incident.

In the end, Miller won the competition and chose Bryan to go on a date with. That was cute, he admitted. He knew they had been attracted to each other early on but never acted on it… and it was sweet to watch Bryan be so comforting to his best friend. He didn’t think the house would want to vote them into the truth booth just yet, though. It was just so early and there were other couples who had been waiting much longer to get officially matched.

And, Miller did end up choosing one of those couples to also go on the date. But, why did it have to be Clarke and Lexa? And why did he have a weird smile on his face when he announced it? He could have picked Monty and Harper or Jasper and Maya. They were much safer bets than Clarke and Lexa. Bellamy clenched his jaw when he saw Clarke tense up. She wasn’t happy about this either.

“What kind of strategy are you using?” he asked Miller, hours later.

“I did what I thought was best,” he replied, smugly.

“Best for who? The house?” he asked, probably a little too aggressively.

“Why do you care? I thought you’d be happy for Clarke. You’re friends, after all,” he said accusatorily.

Oh, Bellamy realized, that’s what he’s trying to do. “Miller, it’s not like that. I just didn’t think that was the best plan for the house.”

“Sure, sure,” Miller replied, blowing him off with a devious smile on his face.

Bellamy rolled his eyes, before getting up to get another beer. Miller didn’t know what he was talking about, he muttered to himself.

 

_Anya_

 

Panic wasn’t an accurate descriptor of what she was feeling. Anxiety, maybe with a hint of fear. She couldn’t put her finger on it, which is how she found herself knocking on Bellamy’s door.

Bellamy opened the door, took one look at her face before firmly declaring, “Whatever it is, I want no part of it.” Anya sucked in a breath, looking down at her feet. The house made an agreement, she reminded herself. No strategy. No scheming. Everyone was just supposed to do what their hearts felt was the right thing. But, she couldn’t just let the house vote Clarke and Lexa into that truth booth.

“Please,” she begged, surprised at how desperate her voice sounded.

“We agreed,” he said calmly, probably reacting to whatever strange facial expressions Anya had going on at the moment.

“We can’t let Clarke and Lexa go into the truth booth.”

“Why not? A lot of people in this house suspect they’re a match, including both of them. It needs to be addressed.”

“But, if they are a perfect match, both of them leave the house for good,” she said, feeling tears starting to form in her eyes. _Get yourself together_ , she thought to herself.

“Which we would all be bummed about… but it has to happen eventually, right?” he said, in a not very convincing tone, Anya noticed. Oh good, she was right. He didn’t really want them to leave either.

“This house would fall apart if Clarke and Lexa left, and you know it. You and I can’t keep Roan in check all by ourselves and everyone listens to Clarke! It’s what’s best for the house,” she argued. That wasn’t the real reason and she wasn’t even sure if she entirely believed what was coming out of her mouth. But, she made Lexa a promise and she was going to keep it.

“It would be hard but we would figure it out. I don’t think the solution is to pull another Finn and Echo,” he snapped, bringing back a flood of memories from that horrible night.

“This is the opposite of that---“

“No, it’s the same thing! And I’m not okay with doing that again.”

“Bellamy, please,” she said, the tears finally falling out. “I don’t want to say goodbye to Lexa just yet. Can’t you understand that?” she pleaded. Bellamy looked away from her for a moment, jaw clenching. Yeah, he understood what she was feeling.

“So, we are going to convince the house that we think Bryan and Miller are a match. That’s your plan?” he asked accusatorily, but she could tell that he was already caving in.

“Just enough of the house to make a majority, like before.” He nodded, confirming their new alliance.

“How long do we have before they all get back from their dates?” he asked, and she could see him running through a game plan in his head.

“We have a few more hours. I say we go for Jasper and friends. Also, Wells. He won’t want to potentially lose Clarke either,” she explained, slowly wiping away whatever was left of her tears.

She was pissed at herself for getting emotional in front of Bellamy like that… but she couldn’t help it. She needed Lexa. She wasn’t ready to lose her.


	10. The Children Need a Home, Clarke!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll it's a long one but I swear it's sooooo worth it. I was grinning like an idiot as I wrote the last POV.
> 
> Also, I'm loving the feedback I've been getting. Please keep telling me what you're thinking about what's going on. It's what I reread when I get tired of writing a chapter to reinspire me to keep going.
> 
> A lot of ya'll keep pointing out how stupid the people in the house are when it comes to love... which is 1000% true. I just want to point out, since some of you have never had the wonderful privilege of watching Are You the One?, these guys are so much smarter than the dumb dumbs who end up on that show. Like there are times as I'm writing this that I'm like... no this is way too logical. No one on that show would ever think this clearly. 
> 
> Anyways, love you guys! Thanks for the love! I hope you're all dying from cuteness by the end of this chapter.

_Wells_

How did he become the house therapist? He couldn’t figure out at what point the rest of the house started viewing him as a person to dump all of their problems on. Sure, he was a good enough listener. But, he had his own shit to deal with. Between comforting Clarke, calming Bellamy down, and now, repairing mediations between Anya and whoever Anya pissed off that week, Wells was getting pretty damn sick of the drama. He was prepared to tell the next person who asked if he had a second to fuck off… until that next person ended up being Raven.

She had found him outside when he was on one of his daily walks, and he couldn’t just say no to her… considering this was the first time that she has ever wanted to open up to anyone, as far as Wells knew.

“I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. Like how did I get here?” she ranted a little breathily, as she tried to keep up with Wells’ pace. “Seeing Sinclair yesterday and talking to him reminded me that I used to be this total badass. Like no one ever screwed with me and I always got what I want.” Wells nodded in agreement, vaguely remembering what she was like those first two weeks of the competition. “So how did I get to this place where I hide from people in the house? And I’m not even a one-night stand kind of girl… or at least I wasn’t.”

“People change,” Wells added, trying not to overstep. From what he knew about Raven, he was certain that she was not done ranting.

“But, I don’t. I’ve always been this tough, no nonsense kind of person. Now I’m all nonsense. Petty high school drama. Snatching up other people’s boyfriends. Getting drunk every night and fighting with anyone who would be stupid enough to let me.”

“Maybe that’s your problem,” he suggested.

“What, my drinking? No shit, Sherlock.”

“No, this idea that you’ve always been tough. No one is tough all the damn time. You’ve got to break down every now and then. Like you started to do that with Finn but didn’t like dealing with those feelings, so you tried to push them down by sleeping with Bellamy. What I want to know is what feelings you were trying to push down by sleeping with Roan?” he asked, in an almost confrontational tone. He might have stepped a little too far… but he was getting tired of the house walking around Raven’s involvement in the house’s most recent blow up. What could have possibly compelled Raven to sleep with him after everything else that went down that night? It just didn’t make sense. And he was tired of hearing the “that’s just kind of Raven’s thing” excuse when he asked other people. It wasn’t a Raven thing. If he had learned anything in that house, it was that people made the stupidest decisions when they are scared of something. Maybe if Raven figured that out, the rest of the house could stop worrying about her.

“I don’t… I don’t actually know. Maybe things were just too comfortable for me. Maybe I self-sabotaged. I don’t know.”

“But what exactly were you sabotaging?” he asked, very confrontationally. She snapped her mouth shut and stopped walking. When Wells turned around to look at her, he could tell that she wasn’t going to answer. “Until you have an answer to that question, you’re going to keep screwing yourself over. Figure it out, for your own happiness’ sake,” he said, before turning around and resuming his walk, leaving Raven standing all alone.

 

_Lexa_

Clarke was sitting across from her, repeatedly trying to stab the last piece of penne with her fork and missing. Lexa tried not to laugh at the frustrated expression on Clarke’s face. She finally put the fork down, whispered “don’t judge me” and picked it up with her hand.

“I have a question,” Lexa asked, making Clarke’s face flash with concern. It had been a weird date, to say the least. They hardly talked during the actual ziplining and only made small talk at dinner. “Are we okay?”

“Of course we’re okay. What makes you think we weren’t?” she asked in a tone that Lexa was sure was meant to sound confident, but she could hear Clarke doubting her own words.

“It’s just, we haven’t really talked a lot lately and now we’re here on this date. And it feels awkward for me.”

“I mean, it is awkward. We’re trying this whole friends thing and honestly, I feel good about it. But it’s super weird to get thrown on this date, especially when we both remember a time where this date would have actually been romantic,” Clarke pointed out, before grabbing her drink. She seemed to be telling the truth, Lexa thought. She had worried that she incorrectly judged where Clarke was on all of this.

“So, you’re not mad at me about anything?” Lexa felt the need to ask. Now was as good a time as any, she justified.

“I was at first. But now? I’m kind of relieved. I had doubts about us early on but was ignoring all the signs that this wasn’t right. And now, we’re here. We’re on a friend date. I watched you screech on the zipline like a child and it was hilarious. You watched me eat pasta with my hands. And we both got to tease the hell out of Miller for the hickey that’s starting to form on his neck. We had a good day,” she said with a smile. “If we match in the truth booth tonight, it’ll be fine. We’ll lounge around in the honeymoon suite eating pizza and show up once a week to heckle the rest of the house for not having their shit together. It’ll be great,” she reassured.

“I’m sure it’ll all work out,” Lexa replied, not wanting to talk about the truth booth. The way Clarke put it, Lexa felt kind of stupid for worrying about it. She wondered if Anya could actually succeed in preventing the house from voting them in. They had agreed to not using a strategy that week… to “follow their hearts” or whatever. Lexa thought that plan was a little bit too much of a concession after what Roan pulled. But, she was outvoted.

 

_Bryan_

It was the best date of his life; that’s what he kept telling anyone who would listen. He knew Miller was still sort of recovering from whatever it was that went down with Roan. But, he couldn’t stop being excited about it. He hadn’t had a real connection with anyone in the house yet. He and Anya tried a few times… but it just never became anything more. But, Miller, who was a little shy, warmed up to him so quickly and was actually just this funny, nerdy guy.

The first thing Bryan did when he got back into the house was pull Wells aside to gush about his date. His smile must have been contagious because Wells was smiling too.

“I know it’s too early to tell if he’s my perfect match or whatever, but I just have this feeling, you know? Like we kissed and it just felt right. Like it felt like I had kissed him a thousand times before. You know?” he knew he was talking a mile a minute, but he just couldn’t calm down.

“Actually, I don’t. At least, not yet. But, I’m happy for you, man. Really, I am,” he responded, pulling him into a hug. Bryan looked over toward the living room, where Miller was talking to Bellamy. He caught his eye and Miller just started beaming back at him. And Bryan just felt… everything.

 

_Clarke_

Lexa looked so happy, Clarke realized. Anya was telling her something and Lexa just looked like she no longer had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She wondered if Lexa and Anya were a thing… she was leaning toward yes, but Lexa never gave indication she was pursuing anyone in the house. Bellamy had been weirdly distant since she got back, she noticed. Maybe she was just reading into it too much. He was probably putting his energy into checking up on Miller, who had a rough go of things lately.

Kane was getting ready to start the truth booth nonsense and everyone in the room started getting to their seats. The awkward tension was still kind of hanging in the air, but no one appeared to be currently upset about anything. It was almost peaceful.

“And, the couple you guys voted into the truth booth is Miller and Bryan! You guys can head toward the truth booth now.” Clarke frantically looked around… no one looked surprised. Why didn’t they look surprised? This morning, everyone was saying they were planning on voting in Clarke and Lexa. They kept saying it just made the most sense. She made eye contact with Wells first, who quickly looked down toward his feet.

She looked over at Lexa, who looked back with a sorry look in her eyes. She then saw Anya shift her gaze downward, gripping Lexa’s hand.

Clarke wanted to scream. They fucking planned this and no one bothered to consult her. They had agreed that this week was going to be a strategy-free week.

She forced herself to take a deep breath.

They fucking agreed. They argued for hours and finally made an agreement that all four of them could concede to.

Wait, this didn’t make sense, she thought. There was no way Anya could have convinced a majority of the house to rig the vote. Not after convincing them just days earlier that she wouldn’t try to scheme this week. No, she couldn’t talk five other people into switching their vote. They wouldn’t have listened to her. Someone helped her.

She looked up at Bellamy, who had been avoiding making eye contact with her, arms crossed and biting his lip. She didn’t even want to know what could have possibly compelled him to throw out a truth booth like this. She didn’t fucking care. They fucking agreed. No strategy. Follow their hearts. That was the damn plan… so why the hell was Clarke the only one following it?

Kane was giving a big speech about some surprises that were in store next week, but Clarke didn’t stay to listen. She didn’t want to stay in the room to hear Bryan and Miller tell them all what they already knew. She had to get out of there. When everyone was abuzz trying to figure out what could be going on next week, Clarke slipped out the back door and started walking away from the house toward where the match up ceremonies were held.

She took another deep breath, trying to remember what her dad would tell her to do when she started to get overwhelmed. She started to see the silhouette of the match up ceremony area when she started to hear footsteps behind her.

“Clarke!” Bellamy shouted. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. Of course, he followed her. She had to be pretty dumb if she thought she could sneak out of a group meeting without him noticing.

“What do you want, Bellamy?” She couldn’t really see him in the dark but could vaguely make out his shape as he huffed and walked toward her.

“Let me explain,” he started.

“No need. I don’t care. I thought we were sticking to our agreement, but I guess I was the only one out of us four that really gave a shit.”

“Clarke, we couldn’t let you two go into that truth booth and you know it.”

“No, I don’t know it. We needed that truth booth. If we had been a match, it would have filled out multiple weeks’ number of perfect matches, which would have helped the whole damn house!” she almost shouted, before remembering that she was trying to stay calm.

“Do you want to yell at me? Will that make you feel better?” he asked calmly, before finally reaching where Clarke had stopped. He looked exhausted and out of breath.

“Yes, it would make me feel better. But, no. I don’t want to. Because you and I are finally friends and friends don’t just yell at each other because they’re upset,” she snapped, making sure to keep her volume in check. “You know what else friends don’t do? They don’t blindside each other. What the actual fuck, Bellamy? We agreed! We fucking agreed!”

“Don’t you think I know that? Do you think this choice was easy? I knew you would be pissed!”

“So then, why did you do it?”

“Anya and I agreed that the worst thing that could happen to this house is if you and Lexa matched in the truth booth and left the house. You two are too smart and too good at this game for us to lose you two. The times that we’ve made big improvements were all from you and Lexa’s ideas.”

“That’s a bullshit excuse and you know it. We’re narrowing down on our matches as it is. It’s just a matter of using the truth booths correctly and mixing up the couples until week ten. You don’t need us. What’s really going on?” she asked, starting to worry there was something else going on here. Did something happen in the house while she and Lexa were gone? What could possibly compel Anya and Bellamy to throw away a truth booth?

“Nothing is going on,” he snapped, running his hand through his hair and looking frustrated.

“Tell me. What is so horrible about us possibly getting sent to the honeymoon suite? Why did you agree to this?”

“Because I need you!” he shouted.

“Bell---“ she tried to say before he cut her off.

 “The house needs you. Uh. You’re more than just a strategy person to them. You’re kind of the person who keeps the chaos at bay… well as much as anyone could. The house would be really sad to see you go,” he said, turning his head to look back toward the house.

She stood there in silence, waiting for him to say anything else. Her heart felt like it was sinking. She felt something strange in her stomach when he said he needed her… but whatever it was started to ache when she realized he was talking about the house.

“If you want to stay out here and be pissed off, at least direct your anger at Lexa and Anya. It was their doing, not mine. I just agreed and helped.”

“I’m not going to take this out on them. I know why they did it,” she muttered, growing tired of this argument.

“Why is it that when they pull something like this you refrain from snapping at them?”

“It’s not like that, Bellamy,” she argued.

“Really? Because from where I’m standing it looks a lot like that.” Clarke was praying that he stopped talking. She was tired of fighting him. They were friends now and so fighting with him just hurt everywhere. It wasn’t like when they just met. Then, fighting was almost kind of fun, like a friendly duel. Now, fighting just felt an awful lot like cruelty. “Why is it that they get a free pass for shitty behavior but I get treated like a heartless monster?” he shouted, causing Clarke to flinch.

“Because they aren’t you!” she yelled back, hoping to God that no one else could hear them yelling. Bellamy took a step back, raising his eyebrows and opening his mouth slightly.

“Clarke,” he murmured softly.

“I have grown to expect them to do things behind my back. But you---“

“Clarke, I’m so---“

“You were the only person I could---“

She stopped herself. He didn’t need to know what she was going to say. It was clear that whatever it was that she was feeling was not mutual.

“The only person you could what?” he asked eagerly.

“It doesn’t matter,” she muttered, before starting to walk toward the house.

Bellamy grabbed her by the wrist to turn her around. “No, you can tell me,” he said reassuringly.

Clarke could hear the backdoor of the house swing open and glanced over her shoulder.

“You guys!” someone yelled. It might have been Wells but she couldn’t really tell. “They were a perfect match!”

“Holy fuck,” she heard Bellamy murmur. Wait, did Miller and Bryan match up in any of the previous ceremonies, she wondered. She could have sworn they had ended up matched last week.

She felt herself start to move toward the house frantically. Last week they got four matches, she reminded herself. Three of them were the honeymooners. She stopped dead in her tracks. If Miller and Bryan matched last week, that meant she was officially not Lexa’s match. She had to get back inside to check with the others before she got too excited.

“Clarke, wait,” she heard Bellamy jogging up behind her. He grabbed her arm to turn her around. “What were you going to say earlier?” he asked earnestly. She couldn’t figure out what was going through his head. He looked so, she didn’t know. It was a face she hadn’t seen or noticed before.

“Like I said, it doesn’t matter. And now, it seems that everything worked itself out. I’m not mad at you. The truth booth didn’t end up being a waste and it seems you made the right call. We’re fine,” she answered quickly, before rushing into the house. The first face she saw was Lexa’s… and it looked like complete and utter relief.

Oh thank God, she thought. I really wasn’t her match.

She let out a huge breath, before hearing Bellamy finally catch up with her. The house was celebrating all around them. Jasper was pouring out shots. Harper and Monty were arguing over whose iPod had the better music for the party. Miller and Bryan were kissing in the corner. Whatever tension she still felt during the truth booth announcement had disappeared. But, she could still some kind of weight weighing her down. Oh, she realized. If Lexa wasn’t her match, then who was?

 

_Roan_

He was starting to feel more like himself, he realized. He refrained from getting drunk with the rest of the house. Roan was starting to worry that his drinking was part of what went wrong last week. And, ugh, he was just tired of being hated in this house. He couldn’t stand Finn, but now he sort of understood what had to have been going through his head in his last few days in the house. It really felt horrible to be the villain of this story.

He stepped outside onto the patio, only to find Anya sitting there all alone.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she snapped.

“No, you’re not. Everyone else in this house is thrilled and you’re out here alone.”

“Really, I’m not ready to talk about it.”

“I thought you’d at least be excited about Clarke and Lexa not being a match.”

“I am. But, at least when they thought they were a match, I knew nothing would come out of it. Now, who knows who she’ll form a connection with?”

“Um. Perhaps you?” he blurted out, thinking it was obvious.

“I don’t think she sees me like that,” she said, staring down at her feet.

“Have you asked her?” He was beginning to see this house’s problem. Everyone in it was incredibly stupid. It’s reality TV for fucks sake. There is a time and a place for slow burns and subtlety… but this was not it.

“Shouldn’t you be figuring out your own shit?” she snapped back. He probably should, but he didn’t know where to begin. He wasn’t himself last week. His pride was hurt and was frustrated with what was going on with his own relationships and just wanted to take it out on everyone else.

But, it wasn’t the house’s fault that he didn’t know how to just be himself with another person. He had been this character of the cool flirtatious guy for so long… he didn’t remember how to just be Roan.

 

_Monty_

“We have to get him hammered,” Jasper whispered in their little huddle.

“He’s not going to go for it. He never drinks much,” Harper pointed out.

“Yeah but Mom is apparently staying sober and Anya and Roan haven’t been drinking either. Maybe he’ll let his guard down if he knows all of them are around if something goes south,” Jasper continued.

“You’ll never convince him,” Maya chimed in.

“Oh, I know. He never humors me. That’s why I won’t be the one convincing him,” he said, looking at Monty.

And that’s how Monty got charged with the task of trying to get Bellamy to join in the fun. He wondered if he could even pull it off. Bellamy was a smart dude. He would see right through this bullshit.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” Bellamy asked as Monty approached him, carrying two drinks.

“Drink with me,” he demanded in a casual tone. Bellamy shot him a weird look. “Look, I need your advice about some stuff with Harper and I don’t want to drink alone.” Bellamy shot him a suspicious glance, before taking the cup from his hand and sipped from it. He then raised his eyebrows as if to say “happy?”

Monty made up some story about little disagreements the two of them were having. He wasn’t sure if any of it made sense, but then he remembered that he had been drinking and Bellamy probably attributed whatever story inconsistencies to that. But, the plan worked. Since Monty kept talking without giving Bellamy a chance to jump in, Bellamy had nothing else to do except drink. Monty started to feel bad about lying to him. Bellamy was being such a good friend about the whole thing, adding in sympathetic nods in all the right places, sprinkling in some reassuring pats on the back.

When Bellamy finished giving whatever advice he had, Monty noticed that he had at least two drinks in the time that they were talking… maybe even three. Then, to finish off the greatest deception of all time, Monty convinced Bellamy that it would cheer him up if he would come hang out with him and Jasper.

“Oh my God! Dad’s getting drunk with us!” Jasper yelled.

“Fuck yeah, I am!” Bellamy shouted, handing his cup over to Monty for a refill.

“Dude, how strong of a drink did you give him?” Harper whispered into his ear.

“A little too strong by the looks of it,” he responded, starting to feel a little guilty for peer pressuring Bellamy into getting drunk.

As it turns out, drunk Bellamy was the life of the party.

“It’s like drinking is his superpower,” Jasper joked. “Total grump by day but saving parties by night.” He had been drinking with them for two hours now and looked so much more relaxed than he ever has in this house.

“So, Dad, are you happy you decided to actually join the party?” Harper asked.

“Hell yeah. Why don’t I do this every night? You guys are so great,” he said, leaning on Jasper’s shoulder.

“You’re the best dad ever,” Jasper cheered, petting Bellamy’s head.

“He looks like a toddler getting ready for a nap,” Maya whispered into Monty’s ear. Oh God, he totally does, Monty realized.

“So, are you and Mom getting married?” Jasper joked, and the rest of them started chuckling in response.

“I freaking wish,” Bellamy murmured into his cup before taking another gulp. Jasper made eye contact with Monty at that moment, with an excited expression on his face. Harper and Maya joined in the exchanging of excited looks. Bellamy sat up, looking confused. “What? Did I say something wrong?” he asked, slurring his words.

“No, not at all,” Jasper replied with a ridiculously huge grin on his face.

Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows. “You guys are keeping something from me,” he said with a pout on his lips. He, then, tried to stand up, but slipped a little bit. Within seconds, Clarke ran over to help him up. Oh, this was too cute, Monty thought.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Clarke suggested with a stern look on her face.

“Look at you taking care of me,” he said, slurring his words some more. “Isn’t she just the sweetest person in this house?” he asked, directed toward the four of them.

“Come on,” she said, slinging his arm around her shoulder and putting her hand on his back to steady him. “It’s getting late.”

“That’s right it is late,” he acknowledged, still directing his words at the four of them. “You kids should be in bed,” he commanded in his best dad voice. Jasper fell over laughing while the rest of them kept chuckling to themselves. Monty loved drunk Dad.

He kept talking as Clarke tried to herd him up the stairs. Monty didn’t take his eye off of them… it was just too damn funny.

“Have we always had so many stairs?” he shouted, sounding out of breath. “When we buy our next house, it’s going to have no stairs.”

“Why would we even buy a house, Bellamy?” Clarke asked, sounding so incredibly confused.

“The children need a home, Clarke!” he shouted.

Monty looked back at Jasper who was grinning like a fucking idiot.

“Mom and Dad are even cuter together than we could have ever hoped,” he said, clapping his hands together happily.

“Nose goes on who has to tell him what all he did tonight,” Maya suggested as she, Harper, and Jasper touched their fingers to their noses. Fuck, Monty thought. He really didn’t want to be the one to break this to him. If he gets as embarrassed as Monty thinks he will, they might never get to see drunk Dad again.

 

_Bellamy_

He did a lot of stupid things yesterday. Literally, so so so so many stupid things. He was being reminded of even more stupid things he had done by Monty and he wanted to go back in time and punch himself.

And as Monty was retelling the events from last night, Bellamy couldn’t get the stupidest thing he had done out of his head: he drunkenly kissed Clarke on the cheek. The specifics were kind of blurry to him, but he remembered Clarke helping him get up to his room and for some reason he picked this drunken moment to be bold. Idiot.

He hadn’t seen Clarke all afternoon, not that he was particularly keen on having an awkward conversation with her. Monty was filling him in on all the dumb things he said to him… but he couldn’t begin to wonder what kind of stupid declarations could have slipped out when Clarke got him into bed. On top of that, he wasn’t sure if he and Clarke were even okay. The fight last night was brutal… probably the one that hurt the most, in his opinion.

It wasn’t that he regretted what he did. If Clarke had been a match with Lexa and left the house, it would have broken his heart, he finally admitted to himself. If he had realized that sooner, he could have saved everyone a lot of drama. But, of course, it took until he saw how distraught Anya was about potentially losing Lexa to realize that saying goodbye to Clarke before he told her how he felt would leave him devastated.

He had almost told her last night before he chickened out and switched topics. Then, he thought for a moment that she was going to tell him how she felt, but then they found out about the match and he has no idea what she was going to say.

He was probably reading too much into it, he thought. She was probably going to say that he was her friend and that meant a lot to her or something like that. Yeah, that sounds more accurate, he thought.

The first time he did see Clarke was at the actual match up ceremony. He didn’t really know what to expect out of tonight… considering no real drama took place other than his fight with Clarke. He had a hard time figuring out how exactly it was going to go wrong this time.

She chose to stand next to him, which he took as a good sign. If she was still mad, she wouldn’t go anywhere near him.

“Hey, I’m, uh, sorry. You know, about last night,” he whispered to her. She glanced up at him with a soft smile.

“Me too.”

The ceremony started by welcoming Miller and Bryan over to sit with the honeymooners. Octavia started cheering, while the rest of them patted them on the back in congratulations. Miller looked so damn happy, he noticed. He could feel his own smile creeping up on him.

The night started off with Monty choosing Harper, followed by Raven choosing Wells. He didn’t feel great about that match, but who knows?

Then, Lexa chose Luna… which made Bellamy tense up. He wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of Anya, but he couldn’t help but feel bad for her. It couldn’t be easy to watch someone you wanted to be with choose to be with someone else. He knew how awful that felt and he didn’t wish it on anyone.

Kane called Bellamy next. Fuck, he realized. He hadn’t really worked through who he would pick. He knew who he wanted to pick but wasn’t sure this was the right place to throw all of this onto her. He felt sick to his stomach, trying to remember to breathe as he walked up toward Kane. He could pick Anya. He wasn’t sure if they had matched up before.

Then, he glanced over at Miller who was shooting him a glare. He really hated to admit that Miller was right. God, he was so fucking right. Bellamy had to be bold. What was the worst that could happen?

“Kane, tonight my match is going to be Clarke,” he declared, without even looking back to glance at her.

“Yaaas Mom and Dad!” he heard Jasper yell from behind him, followed by a few “aww Mom and Dad” cheers from other housemates. He tilted his head up toward the sky, trying to keep from laughing.

Clarke had reached Kane at that point, and Bellamy turned to look at her. Her cheeks were pink from blushing and she had a small smile on her face. Did she always smile during these ceremonies, he wondered, not really remembering how she normally held herself when talking to Kane. Was she always this happy when she walked up there or was this week different because he had been the one to pick her? He had no idea and couldn’t read whatever was going on in her pretty little head.

He thought the questions in his head would stop once they sat down with the others, but he was wrong. Should he grab her hand? No, he answered. His palms were sweaty and his left hand was still shaking a little. He took another deep breath in. Should he say something to her? Or was matching with her enough to tell her what he was feeling?

Maya chose Jasper.

Wait, maybe him choosing Clarke wasn’t clear enough. She didn’t say anything to him as they sat there. She should have said something, right? Or did she think there was nothing else to say? He took another deep breath.

Roan chose Anya.

Oh, God. What if she thought this was like her situation with Lexa? That he was just wanting to match with her as a friend. He kept stealing glances at her to see if he could read anything from her face. But, she looked the same, happy and focused on what was going on with the ceremony.

As each beam of light that represented another perfect match went up, he tensed up more and more. Once they hit five, he felt Clarke grip his hand, leaning forward. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the lights, hoping for just one more. He kept his eyes trained on Clarke, watching her bite her lip nervously. Then, the sixth light went up, and her other hand gripped his. She was squeezing his hand so tight he was starting to go numb, but he also never wanted her to let go.

They got seven fucking beams. Everyone started cheering and jumping up and down, including Clarke who ambushed him with a tight hug. He couldn’t really believe it. Strategy no strategy actually worked out.

People started heading back toward the house, but a few hung back to chat briefly with some of the honeymooners.

“Can you believe it?” Clarke asked him, still smiling ear to ear.

“I think we’re going to be just fine, kiddo,” he responded without thinking and patted her on the shoulder. She shot him a slightly confused smile before turning back to go toward the house. Kiddo? What the fuck even was that?

“Dude, I’ve known you my whole life and I have never seen you fumble that hard,” Octavia said as she stepped next to him. “Seriously, what the hell was that?”

Ugh. He could kick himself. “I don’t know what just happened. It was like I just started vomiting out words,” he explained.

“You normally have such good game,” she teased. He covered his face with both of his hands while groaning.

“Did you screw up again?” he heard Miller joke. Bellamy turned around to shoot him a glare. “Oh my God, you did! How? You were literally so golden after picking her. How could you fuck it up that quickly?”

“She makes him nervous,” Octavia teased while nudging him with her shoulder.

“Shut up,” he groaned.

He made the walk back to the house with Miller and Bryan. He almost started to tear up when he had to hug Miller goodbye. He didn’t know who in the house he would vent to now that Miller was off living his happily ever after.

“Just kiss her, you idiot,” Miller whispered in his ear as they broke away from their hug. Bellamy wiped away his tears before stepping back to stand with the rest of the house. As they walked out the door, he felt Clarke hold his hand. Just take a deep breath, he told himself. He can do this, he reminded himself over and over.


	11. Never Have I Ever Been Mean to Clarke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Splitting week nine into three parts this time. There's just too much going on and I'm sure you guys would rather have more frequent updates at 3k a piece instead of waiting forever for an almost 10k monster. 
> 
> I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter... it was definitely my favorite one I've written so far. A lot of you are figuring out the final matches, which is awesome. I'm glad you guys are so into this! Love ya'll!

_Raven_

“Drink,” she commanded as she slid a cup toward Clarke. They were sitting at the kitchen table, observing the rest of the party.

“No, I really shouldn’t,” Clarke replied.

“Why? Are you going to continue moping around? This is a freaking party, Clarke,” Raven snapped. Clarke had been acting really weird since the match up ceremony, which everyone was kind of weirded out by. She seemed really happy during it. Nothing went wrong. Clarke was normally the life of the party when things were going the house’s way.

“I do not mope,” she snapped back.

“Ugh, Jasper said you weren’t going to be fun. Such a mom,” Raven said deviously, knowing exactly how Clarke would react to that.

“Jasper said I’m not fun?” Clarke jumped up and grabbed the glass off the table. “I can be fun!”

“Prove it!” Wells added in, with a smirk on his face. And, Clarke chugged her entire drink before slamming the glass down on the table.

“Where the hell is Jasper?” she demanded, and Raven and Wells pointed toward the living room before Clarke stormed off. Roan wandered in, picking up a few of the empty cups that were left out on the table.

“You not joining the party?” Raven asked him. He paused what he was doing to sigh.

“Maybe I will in a bit. Not quite ready to party yet,” he almost muttered before taking the cups toward the trash can.

“You know, someone should probably stay sober enough in case things get out of hand,” Wells pointed out.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” Raven smirked, nodding toward Bellamy. “With Mom joining the party, there’s no way he’s going to let anything get out of control.” They both watched his reaction when Clarke ran into the room to chew out Jasper. It was that exhausted sigh that told them he was going to be hovering around her all night just to make sure she didn’t accidentally hurt herself.

“Cheers to that,” Wells joked as they clinked glasses.

 

_Lexa_

 

She couldn’t find Anya anywhere. She kept pacing between the living room and the kitchen, trying to see if she had just missed her. She wasn’t outside either, she had checked.

Lexa had this weird feeling that Anya had been avoiding her. They were getting along just fine before the match up ceremony. But, during the ceremony Anya started acting distant… she hardly reacted when they hit the seventh beam, Lexa noticed.

She hated to leave the party, but she needed to make sure Anya was doing okay. Maybe being matched up with Roan upset her, for some reason. Lexa didn’t think they were a match, but it’s not like they hadn’t matched up before.

She finally found Anya in that weird little room in the back, sitting by herself and pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Anya, are you okay?” she asked, suddenly even more worried.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, blowing her off and getting up to leave the room. Lexa stepped in front of her to block her path toward the door.

“What is going on with you? We did great tonight. I thought you’d be happy.”

“I did too,” Anya muttered before trying to push past her.

“We’re going to win the game. Doesn’t that matter to you?” she asked, so confused as to what could possibly bother Anya when everything was going their way.

“Is that all you think I care about?” she snapped, stopping to glare at Lexa. She looked into her eyes and just saw sadness. Of course, Lexa thought, the game isn’t all Anya cared about. She knew that. They all knew that. But, it was still a really exciting night for everyone else. Why couldn’t Anya enjoy it?

“Of course not. I just don’t know what---“ Lexa was cut off as Anya leaned in and kissed her aggressively. It was a little too urgent, like it almost hurt. But, Lexa didn’t hate it. She actually really liked it.

Anya jumped back all of the sudden, looking apologetic. Oh, Lexa thought… Anya thought she had crossed some kind of line. She started to turn away to leave the room but Lexa grabbed her hand to turn her back around to face her.

They made eye contact for a second and Lexa couldn’t think of what to say. So, she stepped toward Anya and cupped her face, pulling her in for a much calmer kiss. It was still urgent, but sweeter. As her hand fell to Anya’s waist, she could feel the tension leave her body as she melted into the kiss.

 

_Harper_

“What do you mean you’ve never been high?” Jasper asked Maya with a shocked expression. They were all gathered around in a circle playing Never Have I Ever.

“I don’t know. I was always kind of a rule follower,” she replied shyly. Maya was quickly becoming the most sober person in the game, since she was the most innocent, Harper noted.

“My turn! Never have I ever made out with Roan!” Jasper shouted, causing Roan to overhear and walk over to the game. Raven took a drink, but no one else did. But then, Harper saw Clarke sneak a drink out of her glass.

“Oh my God, Mom!” Monty shouted. Roan started shaking his head, before sitting down next to Bellamy on the couch to watch them play.

“See! I told you I can be fun and spontaneous. I’ve done things that none of you even know about,” she proudly declared, trying to ignore how slurred her words were becoming.

“Never have I ever hooked up with anyone in the house,” Wells said. Everyone but him and Clarke took a drink. Huh, Harper thought. She guessed she had always figured that Clarke and Lexa had hooked up.

“Never have I ever been arrested,” Maya said, looking around at everyone else. She had expected that maybe Raven would take a drink there, but no. It was Clarke that shocked all of them while chugging her drink and trying to hide her huge smile.

She slammed her drink on the coffee table before saying, “Told you guys I’ve done things.”

At this point, Roan and Bellamy both ran over to join their little circle and sat over by Luna. “Princess, this is a story you have got to share with the group,” Bellamy teased. Harper wanted to hear it too.

“What could you possibly be arrested for?” Roan asked curiously.

“First of all, my record was wiped clean because I wasn’t even at fault,” she snapped defensively.

“Mom, what was the charge?” Monty asked. Everyone had forgotten about the dumb game and were hanging on her every word.

She murmured something in response, but no one could hear her. They kept pestering her to answer before she finally muttered assault.

“What the fuck? How? What?” Raven started shouted in an unbelieving tone.

“It wasn’t my fault!” she shouted, before calming herself down a little and continuing. “I was visiting a friend and apparently in that state laws are a little different when it comes to assault. If someone attacks you and you fight back, you both get arrested. So that’s how I got arrested.”

“Holy fuck,” Harper heard Bellamy mutter. She looked over at Roan who looked a little bit terrified of Clarke at the moment.

“Did you do any damage?” Wells asked curiously.

“Oh, fuck yeah. He had a broken nose and a cracked rib. My dad taught me how to defend myself,” Clarke said, leaning back smugly.

“How could something so small do that kind of damage?” Monty whispered in Harper’s ear before she started giggling.

“I told you guys I’m not the mom friend,” Clarke said way too loudly. “Is that the kind of thing a mom would do?”

“Dude, Dad already tried convincing us that he used to be cool, too. That was in your past. You’re a mom now. There’s no escaping it,” Jasper joked before Clarke threw her head back, sighing.

“Never have I ever been mean to Clarke,” Clarke declared before demanding every single one of them take a drink for teasing her. Worth it, Harper thought.

 

_Roan_

They were all hot messes, he thought. He hasn’t partied this much since college and it was getting to that point in the evening where everyone was getting sloppy. Clarke had gotten to her flirty drunk phase and kept telling everyone they were beautiful. Raven kept trying to start little fights with Bellamy, and he was not biting. Thank God he wasn’t the only sober person in this house, he thought. Luna had disappeared a while ago, which Roan found odd. If they were still close, he’d probably go look for her. But, whatever it is that she is dealing with, she probably didn’t need his help.

He walked into the kitchen, wanting to get a head start on cleaning up. Wells was sitting on the counter, polishing off his current drink.

“Hey, Wells. I was going to---“

“Don’t even start,” Wells groaned.

“Start what?”

“I don’t want to hear you vent about someone in this house. My brain can’t take anymore!” he shouted, slurring his words.

“Dude, I wasn’t going to…”

“Do you ever notice,” Wells continued, interrupting Roan again, “that every day I ask people ‘how are you?’ But like no one ever goes ‘how are you, Wells?’ Which is just rude!” He jumped off the counter, almost slipping when he hit the floor. Roan grabbed his arm to help him stabilize. “Like, doesn’t anyone want to know how I am? I could be a total disaster and no one would know because no one fucking asked!”

“Wells?”

“Yeah?”

Roan smiled before asking, “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m actually doing alright. Thank you for asking,” Wells responded, shrugging his shoulders like he completely forgot what he was just ranting about. Yeah, Roan didn’t like being around drunk people when he wasn’t drinking. But, even he had to admit, that was kind of cute.

 

_Bellamy_

 

“You doing alright?” he asked Luna, noticing how quiet she had been lately. She had been the most antisocial person in the house lately… which says a lot considering how much Roan had been avoiding all of them for the past week.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she muttered into her drink. The party had calmed down. Harper and Monty were off in the corner violating all sorts of unspoken rules about PDA. Raven and Jasper had been fighting about some TV show or video game or something nerdy that Bellamy didn’t know anything about. Clarke had moved to the couch next to him but was struggling to keep her eyes open. Every time he suggested she go to bed, she tried to fight him.

“Don’t lie to me,” he replied.

“I don’t know who to choose next week. And I can’t even begin to figure it out.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. We’ll all look at the chart Clarke’s been keeping and leave it up to strategy if it comes down to that,” he explained. He couldn’t begin to guess who would be Luna’s match off the top of his head. She didn’t seem to really have someone in the house that matches with her, he had always thought. She was a great girl… just everyone who was left in the house was already pairing up or seemed to clash with her. It was okay though, he kept telling himself. He and Clarke could figure it out. If he could successfully guess Echo and Finn, he could get this girl a match.

He looked over his shoulder to see Clarke had finally fallen asleep. He got up to carry her to bed. “I’m not even tired yet,” he heard her mutter into his chest as he took her up the stairs.

“Princess, you’ve been drifting off for half an hour now. Just go back to sleep,” he explained, trying to avoid rolling his eyes. God, she could be so infuriating. Even at her most tired, she still wanted to fight him. He gently put her down on her bed before going to take off your shoes.

“You don’t have to take care of me,” she whispered, eyes closed but clearly fighting to stay awake.

“Yeah, but I want to. So, get over it,” he muttered, pulling down her comforter. She turned onto her side, snuggling into her pillow.

“Thank you,” she muttered softly, pulling up her blanket and getting comfortable. Bellamy was now sitting on the side of her bed looking at her. “You’re too sweet to me,” she said softly with a smile. He could feel himself smiling back at her and just let himself enjoy this moment. She wasn’t going to remember this in the morning.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead before whispering, “Good night, princess.”

He tried not to obsess over the smile she had on her face after he kissed her forehead… but he couldn’t help it. That was all he could think about that night as he stared at the ceiling trying to fall asleep.

 

_Clarke_

“I’m never drinking ever again,” she groaned as she drank her coffee.

“Come on, you know that’s not true,” Wells teased, as he filled his bowl full of cereal. God, did he have to be so damn loud?

“What’s wrong, Clarke? Having a hard time keeping up now that you’re a mom?” Bellamy said while smirking at her. She threw a piece of bread at him and he pretended to look like she injured him. What a dork, she thought.

“I’m too tired for this shit.”

“Hi, too tired for this shit. I’m Dad,” he joked before the rest of the table started booing him and throwing stuff at him.

“Although, we probably shouldn’t have any parties like that one for a while,” Roan pointed out as he plopped down next to Wells.

“Shut up, you’re not my real dad,” Jasper joked before slumping down in his seat after seeing Bellamy’s fake dad glare. This joke was getting so old, Clarke thought.

“Roan’s right,” Wells pointed out. “We can’t just get hammered every night. We need to start making a plan for next week.”

“Gotta make sure that we use our truth booths to answer questions about the last few matches,” Bellamy added in. Luna was sitting next to Clarke, not really adding to the conversation… but she was nodding along. Bellamy shot Clarke a look, probably seeing what Clarke was thinking about. The look said don’t start with her. Okay, she was going to give Luna some space.

“We can’t seriously go back to strategizing?” Jasper asked semi-aggressively.

“That was always the plan, Jasper,” Clarke pointed out.

“But, last week turned out great because everyone just went with their own gut. Who is to say that won’t keep happening?” he asked.

“Everyone went with their gut last week. But what if nothing changes this week? People can’t just pick the same matches all over again. That’s why we need a plan,” Wells explained. Clarke hoped people in the house wouldn’t waste a match up ceremony that way, but she had been wrong about all of that before.

Luna suddenly started paying more attention to the conversation, Clarke observed. She started thinking back to what she could remember about the past seasons on this show. She vaguely remembered how crazy the drama had gotten… and if it wouldn’t get bad on its own, Kane would always stir up something that would have everyone at each other’s throats by the last episode.

She had been getting nervous about how calm things had been in the house. What kind of tactics did Kane use in the past? She vaguely remembered the third season, this one guy who had been pretty much in the background all of the sudden got riled up, picked fights with random people, and it led to a terrifying match up ceremony the week before week ten. She glanced back over at Luna. If Clarke was right, whatever it was that was haunting Luna could easily be used to get the house back into a fight. Who was it that Luna had a problem with, she wondered. It might be Raven, but that seemed like old news. Clarke should have been paying better attention to Luna.

As she went to rinse out her coffee mug, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t do it,” she heard Bellamy say quietly, so no one else could hear. She turned around, a little surprised by how close he was. She couldn’t figure out what his deal was. One second he was picking her as his match, and the next he sat in silence during the match up ceremony, not even acknowledging what had just happened. Then, there was that whole “kiddo” incident which was just fucking weird.

“Don’t do what?”

“Meddle. Leave her alone. If things are gonna go down, they’re gonna go down. You just need to steer clear of it,” he warned, with a very serious expression.

“It’s too calm,” she explained.

“That’s not a bad thing,” he said, putting both hands on her shoulders and looking at her with a warning gaze. “If I’ve learned anything about this show, it’s that drama finds a way, calm or not calm. So, just enjoy the peace while it lasts.”

He was right, she realized, as she dropped her head to his shoulder. Ugh, he smelled nice. Why did he always smell so nice? He wrapped his arms around her and just held her like that for a moment. It felt so very right and she really hoped he never pulled away. But he did, before grabbing his plate and heading toward the sink. Moment over. She sighed, before slumping back toward the table. Raven had joined them while she was gone.

She plopped back to her seat, trying to engage in Wells’ explanations about what kinds of challenges Kane could throw at them in the next two weeks, based on past seasons. But, Clarke couldn’t focus. She just kept glancing at Luna, hoping to notice any sign of what was going on in her head.


	12. I Don't Need Proof

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: I've been spoiling you guys so far with these updates. Unfortunately, I may not be cranking these out as quickly over the next few days. I've got to move out of my apartment in a few days and have a lot of packing up to do. I'm still going to try to get another update up tomorrow night, before I start sobbing from whatever The 100 breaks my heart with this week. Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know I'm not going to be the 10k a day wizard that I've been over the last few weeks. 
> 
> Also, I really can't wait to hear what you guys think about the chapter and what you think I'm gonna write next. Enjoy the angst, more angst, the most angst, with a dash of fluff at the end while you still can. Next update, shit is going to hit the fan. 
> 
> Love you guys! You're wonderful and your comments are making my life right now!

_Bellamy_

He really liked being the first person to wake up each morning. He got the kitchen to himself and got to have at least two cups of coffee before anyone else started bothering him. Despite having less people in the house now, he found it harder and harder to find peace and quiet. He guessed that was just because the remaining people in the house had become that much closer since the first week that honeymooners started leaving the house.

Yesterday had been a relaxing day. He laid out by the pool with Anya and Lexa for the most part. It got a little annoying how much they were flirting… but he was mostly happy that they had finally gotten together. It was about damn time, he thought. Occasionally, he was joined by Clarke and the kids, but they mostly stayed in the pool playing stupid games, giving him, Anya, and Lexa some peace and quiet. He hadn’t seen Luna in a while, but Wells said that she was doing alright, so he didn’t worry about it.

He walked toward the kitchen table, holding his coffee and newspaper… when he saw Marcus Kane seated at the table.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, probably shooting him a horrified look.

“It’s nice to see you too, Bellamy. How is it going?” he said, with a huge grin on his face. Like Bellamy knew this guy was just doing his job… but God his day got worse whenever Kane was around.

“Good… What’s going on?”

“Oh, I thought I’d stop by this morning. I have a surprise for the house.” Oh, fuck. What now? He blew off Clarke two days ago when she brought this up but he wished he had paid more attention. He has a very vague memory of what normally goes down on this show this late in the competition.

Ugh. All Bellamy wanted was to read the newspaper and drink his coffee in peace.

“Okay, well then I’m gonna go start waking people up,” he muttered, already walking toward the stairs.

He started with Clarke for a few reasons. First of all, she takes forever to wake up. Secondly, she might have a good guess for what the hell is about to go down. And, finally, he just kind of wanted to see her. He knocked on her door and heard her yell to come in. When he walked in, Clarke was sitting up in her bed, looking at all these sheets of paper scattered all over her bed. He looked over to Harper’s bed but she wasn’t there… she must be with Monty.

“Clarke… what’s all this?” he said, horribly confused. She finally looked up from her papers to pat on her bed, gesturing for him to come sit down.

“I figured it out,” she said softly, gesturing to all the paper. “The best option for the house is to send Jasper and Maya into the truth booth so that we can close out week four and week five. If they’re a match, we know that Raven and Wells aren’t a match and that Monty and Luna aren’t a match.” He shot her a weird look which didn’t seem to phase her. She was just speeding through her explanations. “Monty and Harper would be a good second choice for the booth, but knowing they’re a match won’t close out any weeks so it won’t knock out any other matches,” she said, looking up at him excitedly.

“Clarke, we have a situation downstairs,” Bellamy tried to interrupt.

“So, I think we need to put Jasper and Maya in this week, then next week we put in Monty and Harper, which will finally knock out week five,” she said, seeming to have not heard what Bellamy just said. “If both of them are matches, then we know for certain that Lexa and Luna aren’t a match, and that I’m not a match with Anya, and that you’re not a match with Raven.”

“We already know I’m not a match with Raven,” he argued, wondering how much longer this would take so that they could get back to the Kane problem.

“No, we don’t know that. We just suspect that based on the assumption that kids all matched up correctly,” she said, pulling up one of the sheets of paper to double check herself. He was mildly amused that she actually referred to the four of them as the kids, which is how Bellamy had been mentally referring to them for weeks. But, he would come back to that later.

“Raven’s not my match. You’re my match,” he snapped, a little too harshly.

“Well, we don’t have proof to support---“

“I don’t need proof, Clarke.” Her head snapped up, making eye contact with a slight deer in the headlights look. Bellamy swallowed then, trying to figure out just how to recover from how intense he just sounded. “Um, it’s just that if I were to put odds on the matches from last week specifically, it’s very favorable that we were one of the seven.” She nodded, seeming to have fallen back into whatever train of thought she was on before he started interrupted her.

“You don’t understand. Bellamy, I figured it all out!” she said excitedly, tapping one of her graphs quickly with a huge grin on her face.

“That’s great, princess. It really is and I am proud of you. You are so smart. We always knew that. This is some CIA level shit you’re pulling off here. But, we have a problem called Kane that’s sitting at our kitchen table.” Her smile fell immediately, and that made his heart ache slightly. He knew how excited she was about this and based on how wired she seems, he is willing to bet that she has lost sleep over this. But, he needed her very smart brain to help him prep for whatever hurricane Kane had coming for them. He grabbed her hand, to reassure her. “We will come back to this. But, what kind of hell do you think Kane has coming?”

She let go of his hand, before leaning back on her headboard and sighing. He could see her brain running based on how she furrowed her eyebrows together and closed her eyes. He couldn’t get over just how smart she was.

“Sometimes, they bring back old housemates to stir up trouble but I don’t think they’ll do that here. There’s no one in the honeymoon suites that really has unfinished business here. Finn and Echo maybe, but I really think they’ve moved on,” she explained, looking back down at the papers in front of her.

“So, what you’re saying is you don’t think they’re going to try that?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Yes…” she said hesitantly, before getting up and pacing the room. “Oh my God,” she said, abruptly stopping.

“What?” he jumped up to walk over to her.

“We’re thinking about this wrong. What would you do if you wanted to sabotage the house? Where would you start?”

“Honestly,” he started, thinking through what had been going on. “I’d go after Raven. She hasn’t been consistent with who she has been choosing. She’s been pleasant lately… but she’s kind of the ticking time bomb of the house.”

“Then, let’s make sure she gets a heads up. Go tell her. I gotta go shower,” she said, suddenly looking as tired as Bellamy guessed she was. He left to go find Raven.

Before long, all of the house was gathered in the living room, where some technicians were messing around with the TV. This ought to be good, Bellamy sighed. He glanced next to him at Clarke, who was gripping onto Bellamy’s hand a little too tight. He just prayed he could get through the next two weeks without Clarke breaking his damn hand… not that he was going to do anything to stop her.

 

_Raven_

It was too early in the week for a challenge. It was also too early in the week to see Kane’s smug face. God, she wanted to punch him.

“You guys had a really fantastic match up ceremony two nights ago. You’ve come a long way and you should all be proud of yourselves,” Kane started. “As a reward for getting so close to getting all ten matches, the staff and I thought we would put together a little something to show how far you guys have come.” Kane stepped away and gestured to the screen. The video started with a few clips from when they made all of them do confessionals on week one to discuss our first impressions of the house.

“Who is your favorite person in the house so far?” Kane asked Wells, as he looked away from the camera.

“Definitely Clarke. She’s so smart and sarcastic and I could really see her being my match!” Oh, this is too cute, Raven thought. They knew so little back then.

“Is there anyone in the house that you’re not getting along with?” Kane asked as it cut to Clarke snorting. Oh, this had to be good.

“That Bellamy guy is a real dick.” Raven looked over at where Bellamy was sitting and he was almost falling out of his chair from laughing so hard. Clarke was covering up her face.

Then, it jumped to week two.

“How did your date go?” Kane asked Bellamy, who looked so pissed about being there.

“I mean, what about it was supposed to go well? I got sent on a date just to sabotage Echo and spent my day stuck with Clarke of all people. I fucking hate Anya for making me do this,” he snapped. Raven saw Anya mouth a “sorry” toward Bellamy as he just shook his head.

“So, you don’t think Clarke is your match?”

“I’d rather die.” The entire room erupted in laughter as Bellamy hid his face into Clarke’s shoulder.

The screen shifted to an interview with Roan. “So, Roan, you’re not matched up with Echo. That must have hurt given how close you two had gotten,” Kane prodded.

“Not really. We weren’t serious,” he replied coolly.

“But, you did hook up with her, correct?”

“Well, yeah. But that doesn’t mean anything. I do that all the time.” No one in the room really responded to that one, feeling a little awkward. Raven didn’t really like hearing that, knowing full well that he probably had the same attitude toward their hook up. She was pretty sure she didn’t want to be with Roan. It wasn’t like they were ever really romantic or flirty with each other. But, she kind of wished that he had gotten a little stuck on her.

Then, it shifted into week three.

“So, who do you think your match is?” Kane asked.

“I’ve been leaning toward Miller but I had this really nice moment with Harper earlier and I’m just so confused,” Monty explained, looking very frustrated. Aww, Raven thought, looking over at how they were looking at each other now.

The video then showed a few clips of the fight that broke out the night that she and Finn went into the truth booth. She had forgotten all about what went down that night. She started to feel a little sick to her stomach. Then, it flipped to a video of Raven breaking down crying.

“I just thought he was it. I was so happy and I just don’t know what to do anymore or if I can even stay in this house,” she explained to the camera. Raven started to tear up all over again just listening to this.

Then, it flipped to a video that Raven wasn’t familiar with. It was Kane and Clarke sitting in her room in the house… which was weird because they never did confessionals or interviews in their private rooms. It looked like it had taken place the day after that horrible match up ceremony. She was shaking as Kane was apparently checking up on her.

“I don’t know if I can even stay here anymore,” she muttered, eyes full of tears. Kane actually looked human here, Raven thought. He looked full of concern and worry.

“If you have to leave, that’s okay. You don’t have to do any of the challenges or ceremonies if that’s going to be too much for you,” he reassured. She looked over at where Clarke was sitting, seeing her clench up her jaw. This couldn’t be easy for her to watch, she thought.

Then, it flipped to an interview with Maya where she gushed about Jasper for what felt like a decade. Ugh, they were cute then and they’re cute now, Raven thought. She wished that she could feel that certain about someone.

Then, it hit week four and she had to sit through a montage of everyone in the house giving their opinions of her and Bellamy’s hook up. How had she forgotten about that? Raven pinched her nose and tried not to make eye contact with anyone else in the room. That was a huge mistake, she realized.

Luckily, it moved on to Clarke crashing into Anya and Roan and everyone started dying of laughter at Anya and Roan’s confessionals where they bitched about Clarke’s crazy plan. That was a fantastic day, Raven remembered.

“Aww was that when Mom and Dad started falling in love?” Jasper teased, and both of them looked incredibly uncomfortable. Wait, Raven realized, were they not actually together? They were acting like they were, she thought. The whole house thought so. So, why were they being so weird?

 

_Luna_

The video was way too fucking long, Luna thought. It was cute at first, mainly because of how wrong literally all of them were about their matches. Now, it was just a montage of drama.

It shifted into week five, and Luna took a deep breath, not really ready for the Finn and Echo incident.

They showed footage of Raven’s freak out when she almost attacked Finn and how Luna had been there to calm her down. She felt this sinking feeling in her chest, remembering that this was when she started to fall for Raven. She remembered constantly being the one Raven ran to for comfort… and now they hardly spoke and she wasn’t one hundred percent sure of how they even got to this point.

It skipped to Lexa’s confessional, explaining the plan to Kane. It jumped to Bellamy and Clarke’s screaming match in the living room. Luna didn’t remember it being this vicious… but to be honest, there was a lot going on that night and she probably wasn’t as focused on their drama.

It skipped ahead to Bellamy breaking down crying in the confessional and Kane patting him on the shoulder. Luna hadn’t expected that. She looked over at Bellamy, who kept slumping more and more into his chair.

It was kind of fucked up of Kane to show them all of this. Like, they all knew what had happened in the house. These were old wounds… they didn’t really need for them to be brought back.

Then, it showed Harper’s confession where she talked about how she and Monty were slowly becoming a thing. She looked so happy, Luna thought. Why couldn’t she feel like that, she wondered. The only person she had ever been interested in was Raven… and that whole relationship had been full of pain from start to finish. Luna didn’t understand why she had to fall for someone who didn’t want her back while everyone else in this house seemed to just stumble into love.

Now, they were on week six and it started with Luna’s confessional.

“I’m fairly convinced that Clarke and Roan have been sleeping together. He’s literally always throwing sex eyes at her,” she gossiped to Kane. Oops, she thought. She was definitely wrong about that one. Roan started laughing and Clarke threw her shoe at him.

Then, they threw in some footage from when the honeymooners came to visit before jumping to Lincoln and Octavia’s date where they got to see them say their first I love you’s. She missed them, she realized. They were constant and stable and minded their own business. And they both had huge hearts. She looked over at Bellamy, who was tearing up at watching his little sister. Luna almost wanted to tear up too. She missed a lot of the honeymooners and the house didn’t feel the same without them.

 

_Wells_

His favorite part of the video was the “mom and dad” montage. It started with Monty and Jasper in the confessional explaining their new pet names for Clarke and Bellamy. Then, the intercut it with clips of all the times someone in the house used the nickname when talking to them or were talking about them. Then, it jumped to show all the different times Clarke shouted, “I’m not your mom!” and Jasper was on the floor laughing.

Then, it jumped to Bellamy’s second date with Clarke and the entire room started teasing them. It showed a clip of Bellamy purposefully knocking Clarke off the board and he heard Clarke yell, “I fucking knew it! You asshole!” while Bellamy just chuckled.

Then, it jumped to the fight that Roan, Bellamy, Lexa, Clarke, and Anya had that night. Wells hadn’t been around to watch it, but he could hear it vibrate through the house, he remembered. It looked even more terrifying than it had sounded. Then, Clarke snapped and everyone in the room gasped.

“Dude, you should have known not to fuck with Clarke. She’s a badass,” Monty muttered toward Roan before looking back up at the screen. Then, it jumped to a fight out on the patio between Luna and Raven. Wells didn’t know about this. The clip didn’t have audio but it had a soundbite from Luna in a confessional playing over it.

“It’s just, uh, I let her in. And I don’t… I’m not the kind of person who just lets someone in.” He could hear her sobbing through the audio and went to grab her hand. Then, it jumped to Roan and Raven’s hook up. Luna leaned her head onto Wells’ shoulder and just started sobbing. He looked at Raven, who also had tears forming in her eyes. Clarke grabbed her hand to reassure her.

Wells just wanted this damn video to be over. It jumped to Clarke and Roan at the match up ceremony.

“You pleased with yourself?”

“Just remember this next time you decide to come after me.”

“Sweetie, I crashed into your kayak just to get my way. I almost attacked you last night because you pissed me off. But, I haven’t begun to come after you. Trust me, you better hope I never decide to come after you.”

He heard Jasper and Monty start hollering at that.

“Roan, you never fuck with Clarke,” Maya pointed out as Roan just shook his head.

Then, it jumped to last week.

“Why did you put Lexa and Clarke on that date?” Kane asked Miller. Oh, Wells missed Miller. He was the most level-headed guy in the house.

“Honestly, I did it to fuck with Bellamy. He keeps saying he doesn’t have feelings for Clarke and I thought this would be just the thing to prove to him that he’s wrong,” he replied smugly. Oh, Miller was such a good wing man, Wells joked to himself. It looked like his dumb plan worked, although he wasn’t sure if Bellamy and Clarke were actually together or not.

Then, they showed Anya’s heartfelt breakdown about possibly losing Lexa. God, Wells was so happy that they finally ended up together.

The video ended with a montage of the parties they had thrown in the last few weeks, probably as a reminder that they were having a good time… despite all the painful memories that had just gotten brought back to the front of their minds. As soon as it ended, Luna jumped up and left the room. He looked over at Raven, whose eyes followed Luna but didn’t get up to follow her. Damnit, Raven, he thought. Just go follow her for fucks sake.

Kane started giving a speech about the house making sure to leave no stone unturned these last two weeks, but Wells tuned out. He knew things had been too calm in the house lately… but he didn’t know if this little video would succeed in starting old fights over.

He wanted to believe that it wouldn’t work. He was sure that Bellamy and Clarke weren’t going to snap at each other anymore… they seemed solid. Roan seemed to have mellowed out and probably felt more embarrassed than anything. But, Raven and Luna could totally start fighting over this. And Wells loved both of them and didn’t want to have to take a side.

He looked over at Clarke, who seemed to have a disgusted look on her face too. Yeah, she was definitely thinking the same thing he was.

This could really fuck them up.

 

_Clarke_

God, she was so damn sick of Kane. It wasn’t his fault, he was doing his job… she kept reminding herself. But, did he have to be so damn good at it? She tried convincing Raven to go talk to Luna but she refused, claiming they had nothing to talk about.

Clarke stormed up to her room and slammed the door behind her. She was so pissed about having all of those horrible memories brought back like that. It was manipulative of the show to pull a stunt like this. They didn’t have any current drama in the house… so of course they had to pour salt into old wounds. Clarke didn’t want to be reminded of how horrible she and Bellamy were to each other. She didn’t want to see herself be worked up into panic attacks. She didn’t want to be reminded of the horrible things this house did to one another just to win a million dollars. It made her feel sick.

“Are you okay?” she heard Bellamy ask through the door. She went to let him in before shutting the door behind him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. That video was just a dick move.”

“Are we okay?” he asked, with a concerned look on his face. Were they? She wasn’t still mad at him over those past fights and he didn’t seem to resent her either. They were friends now, maybe even more. She couldn’t help but think back to what Miller had said about Bellamy liking her. She still didn’t know if it was true.

It was stupid, she reminded herself. There were moments where it was clear as day that Bellamy wanted to be with her. And she couldn’t help but notice in the video how many times Bellamy acted protectively around her when drama started. How he jumped in front of Roan to keep him away from Clarke. Or how he held her after that fight was over. She blew it off then, but now, she wasn’t sure. She looked at him, trying to search his face for anything that could clear things up for her. But, then she was bombarded with all the times she heard the “I’m glad we’re friends now” statement from him or how he kept petting her shoulder like an older brother. Bellamy was a confident guy, she thought. If he felt something, he would have said something, right?

“Of course, we’re okay. Look, this is just a game,” she replied coolly, trying to distance herself from the thoughts that were plaguing her brain.

“It stops being just a game when people are constantly hurting and lying to each other,” he muttered.

“Well, that’s what you do when you want to win one million dollars,” she snarkily replied.

“I guess,” he muttered, looking down at his feet, keeping his hands in his pockets.

“It’s just terrifying to re-watch what we were all willing to do to win this game. We were so horrible to each other. It’s like, is winning all that matters to everyone?” she said, starting to feel tears forming in her eyes, walking away from Bellamy.

“I don’t care about winning, Clarke,” he snapped and she turned around quickly. He was giving her this pleading look and it made her want to melt right where she stood. She held her breath as he stepped toward her. She took a small step toward him, trying to keep calm. But, she couldn’t. Her heart was racing and she wasn’t sure if she could even move.

He closed the gap between them, pulling her in by her waist with one hand while his other cupped her face. She looked into his eyes, practically begging for him to kiss her already. He ran his thumb over her bottom lip as he parted her lips slightly. She closed her eyes when she felt him pull her face toward him---

“You guys!” Harper screamed as she burst in the door. Bellamy jumped away from her and Clarke tried to jerk herself out of that moment to focus on Harper. “We need you guys downstairs. Raven and Roan are screaming at each other and we can’t get them to calm down,” she explained, clearly out of breath from running up the stairs. She then went back out the door, leaving Bellamy and Clarke standing there, trying to recover from what just almost happened.

“Come on, we should go deal with this,” he said, as he swallowed and moved toward the door. Clarke couldn’t believe he was just going to pretend that nothing just happened. She had waited long enough, she argued to herself. Roan and Raven could wait just a few more seconds, she told herself. The house could survive without Mom and Dad for five minutes. They were adults.

“Bell, wait,” she said, as he turned around. She ran up to him, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him down toward her for a kiss. He was confused for half a second, before returning the kiss. He ran his fingers through her hair with one hand while his other hand stroked her jawline. She opened her mouth slightly, letting out a breath of relief onto his lips. Her heart was still pounding, but it was almost comforting now.

When she finally pulled away from the kiss, Bellamy pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. He seemed to be catching his breath, just like she was.

“We should go check on the kids,” she whispered, and Bellamy just nodded in agreement, not opening his eyes.

“Can we just stand here for one second longer?” he asked and she nodded, feeling a small smile take over her lips. They just stood there, with Bellamy’s arm around her waist, not moving away from each other. She leaned her head into his chest, and he kissed her forehead, just as sweetly as he did when he tucked her in and said good night, she remembered.

“Okay, let’s go,” he said, pulling her by the hand. She took a breath, as she could hear the screaming from the living room once she stepped into the hallway.

“Please, keep your calm around Roan,” he warned and she nodded. They started walking down the stairs and braced themselves for whatever hell the two most volatile members of the house had waiting for them.


	13. Nicholas Sparks Nonsense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer to bang out than I had predicted. But, the dramatic chapters always take longer than I expect... and boy was there drama this time around. 
> 
> Anyway, I'll probably bang another one of these updates out for tomorrow night since I'm procrastinating on my packing. But, no promises. 
> 
> Side note: if I don't accomplish anything else in life, I will die happy knowing that I was the first contributor to the Roan/Wells discourse. (have we come up with a ship name yet?)
> 
> Love you guys! You're great. The next week of competition is going to be less drama, more angst, more fluff, and more Mom and Dad.

_Wells_

It really seemed like nothing at first, he thought. Luna ran off, then Clarke ran off, then Bellamy… People were upset, he figured. But, it seemed like they were all just sad. God, Wells was so wrong.

Jasper and friends had stepped out to the patio, while he was sitting with Anya and Lexa in silence. Raven started pacing and Roan looked like he had something to say. Please don’t say anything, Wells begged.

“You should go talk to Luna,” Roan suggested, and Raven snapped her head around to glare at him. Someone should change the subject or get one of them out of the room, Wells thought. But, he didn’t want to be the person mediating any more of these damn disagreements. He always ended up getting yelled at and felt horrible about himself… and all for what? So that everyone else in the house feels better? Wells wasn’t Clarke. He wasn’t willing to keep throwing himself into the fire just to keep it from spreading… not anymore.

“Why the fuck should I be the one to go talk to her?” she replied coolly.

Roan leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know. Maybe because you’re the reason she’s been distant for the last few weeks?” Wells saw Anya and Lexa share a worried look, which told him that it was time for someone to jump in. He saw them looking at him, trying to tell him to put a stop to it. But, he wasn’t going to be that person this time. Someone else would have to jump in there.

“Excuse me?” she snapped with a scowl.

“I said it’s your fault she’s upset,” he pointed out, with a blank expression on his face.

“Like I was the only one involved in that,” she muttered.

Roan stood up, now with an aggressive look on his face. Oh, fuck, Wells thought.

“Guys, it’s been a long night. Maybe we should all get some rest and continue this in the morning,” Lexa tried to mediate.

“No, I would love to hear how I could possibly be involved in whatever happened between Raven and Luna,” Roan growled, crossing his arms.

“Are you kidding me? You knew about us and screwed me anyway!” she shouted. Jasper opened the back door, probably to see what the yelling was about. Slowly, the rest of them started wandering in, trying not to draw attention to themselves.

“Yes, and I’ve already dealt with the consequences of what we did! You’re the coward who hasn’t faced the music yet.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Okay, let’s all take a breath and calm down,” Anya interjected. “We are all tired and overwhelmed  from the video. Let’s relax.” Roan had started walking toward Raven, as she crossed her arms and didn’t break eye contact.

“I called you a coward,” he muttered. Ugh, Roan had been doing so well up until this point, Wells thought. He had kept his head down, kept his anger in check. And, he was honestly just trying to help when he suggested Raven talk to Luna, he thought. But, Raven has proven time and time again that she doesn’t want any help.

“Well,” she said, stepping toward him, “I guess that’s better than being the house slut.”

Roan started laughing. “That’s funny. You of all people calling me the house slut,” he spat.

And that was when Raven tried to attack Roan. Monty grabbed her before she actually hit him and Lexa and Maya pushed Roan away from Raven.

Wells turned around frantically. Where the fuck did Anya go?

“Go get Clarke and Bellamy!” he shouted to Harper, who had already begun sprinting up the stairs.

 

_Luna_

She had mostly calmed down at this point. She was in that back room that no one really ever went into. It had become her hiding spot for when she needed to get away from the rest of the house. But, apparently, it wasn’t as good of a hiding spot as she had thought.

“Can we talk?” Anya asked, plopping down next to Luna.

“What do you want?” she asked, knowing full well that Anya really didn’t give a shit about her. There is no way this could be a friendly conversation.

“You need to talk to Raven,” she said coolly.

“I think that’s the last thing I need to do,” she muttered.

“So, you’re fine with her continuing to walk all over you?” she asked sharply. Luna looked up at her, wondering what her angle is.

“No, which is why I’m not letting her do that anymore.”

“That’s not what you’re doing.”

“Yes, it is. She can’t hurt me anymore because she no longer means anything to me. She had her chance and she blew it.”

“So, you’re lying to yourself,” Anya pointed out. Ugh, Luna thought, that’s not what’s going on. To Luna, it was simple. Someone who is no longer a part of your life can’t hurt you anymore. She and Raven were no longer in each other’s lives, even though they were staying in the same house. Raven had more than enough chances to fight for her and never even tried. So, Luna was done.

“Anya, stop,” Luna warned.

Anya stood up, about to head toward the door. “Look, it is clear based on what I just saw that you are not over Raven. Let me be clear, I think Raven is a stone-cold bitch. She has been horrible to you. The whole house can see that. But, if you’re going to spend the rest of this competition hiding and crying, you’re letting her win,” Anya explained.

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Luna defended.

“Yeah, it is. Want to be with Raven? Then, fight for her. Want to make her stop treating you like shit? Put her in her place and let her know what’s up. But this,” she said gesturing to the room, “isn’t doing anything except letting her think she’s in the right.” Anya walked back out into the hallway, leaving Luna all alone again.

She was probably right. But, Luna has seen Raven have fights with other people. She had been yelled at by Raven before… it wasn’t an experience that she was eager to repeat.

 

_Lexa_

She was so grateful that Bellamy and Wells dragged Roan outside. Dealing with Raven was hard enough without having Roan encourage her.

She was flailing about as Monty and Jasper struggled to hold her back.

“Let me go or so help me God,” she threatened.

“They aren’t letting you go until you settle down,” Clarke replied calmly, with her arms crossed.

“Oh, fuck off Clarke,” Raven spat. “You weren’t here to hear what he said to me.”

“From what I’ve heard, it was nothing that the rest of the house wasn’t already thinking,” Clarke snapped, anger bubbling up across her face. Raven’s eyes widened, before furrowing her eyebrows. Lexa heard someone behind her.

“What the fuck did I miss?” Anya asked, making a confused face at Lexa.

“Roan and Raven are fighting,” Harper explained.

“No! He kept coming after me about Luna and it was none of his damn business!” Raven yelled, trying to get her arms free.

“It’s all of our damn business if it’s what’s keeping us from winning the game,” Lexa pointed out. They had been tiptoeing around Raven for weeks now and tonight that was going to stop, she thought.

Just then, Roan walked back inside, looking much calmer, followed by Bellamy and Wells who had very worried expressions on their faces.

“Roan, are you done?” Clarke asked sharply, still crossing her arms. Roan glanced back at Bellamy who gave him a stern glare, before nodding. Oh good, Lexa thought. That cuts their problems in half. “Maybe you should go upstairs,” she suggested, returning her glance back to Raven, who Monty and Jasper had let go of but were still hovering around in case she started getting worked up again.

“No, I need to apologize to Raven,” he replied after swallowing.

“Fucking save it. No amount of apologies will make up for how badly you screwed things up for me in this house,” Raven snapped.

“Raven,” Roan started calmly, walking toward the couches, “We were two consenting adults. It is not my fault that us sleeping together messed things up for you and Luna. That was a decision you made and I can’t be blamed now just because you are suddenly feeling guilty about the pain you caused Luna.” He took a big breath after finishing, before looking over at Wells who nodded back.

Just then, Luna walked into the room, with a bewildered expression. Roan muttered something, before walking toward the stairs.

“Don’t walk away from me! I’m not done with you!” Raven yelled, trying to brush past Monty to follow him.

“Can I please talk to Raven alone for a second?” Luna asked calmly, keeping her eyes trained on the floor. That was a bad idea, Lexa thought.

“Maybe now isn’t the best time for that,” Bellamy warned, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Clarke,” Raven growled and Lexa turned her head back around to watch them, “Let me go talk to Roan.”

“Maybe you should take a few minutes to calm down and then we can talk about it,” Clarke replied, trying to keep herself calm.

“No one put you in charge of this house! If I want to talk to Roan, I’m going to fucking talk to Roan!”

“Clarke,” Bellamy warned as Clarke stepped toward Raven, with a frustrated look on her face.

Raven started to talk again. “I think I deserve to---“

“You don’t deserve anything, Raven!” Luna yelled, causing the entire room to stop and look at her. Lexa had never heard more than ten words from the girl and was startled by the sudden jump to screaming.

“Luna, I---“ Raven tried to explain, automatically calming her tone down.

“Shut the fuck up,” Luna snapped, marching past Clarke toward Raven. “Do you guys want to know why Raven and I ended? Because it’s a hilarious story,” she said with a fake smile on her face, turning to face the rest of the room.

“Luna, please,” Raven muttered, turning her head downward toward the floor.

“No, it’s a great story. I told her I wanted to be with her. I opened up and was honest with her with what I was feeling. Which was everything. I felt everything!” she yelled, turning to glare at Raven. “She told me that it was too soon and that wasn’t ready for something like that. Not after what happened with Finn. That’s what you told me.”

Lexa started to tense up and grabbed Anya’s hand. They all knew how this story ended.

“I really shouldn’t have been surprised. She screwed Bellamy to make herself forget about Finn. Why wouldn’t she go screw Roan to distance herself from me?” Luna rhetorically asked, trying to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

“It wasn’t like that,” Raven murmured with a sorry expression on her face.

“Yeah, it was,” Luna snapped. “You can’t get hurt if you don’t let anyone close. That’s what you tell yourself, right?”

“Guys, maybe we should give the two of them some space,” Bellamy suggested, gesturing his head toward the patio. They really should leave, Lexa thought. But, she didn’t trust Raven to stay calm for long.

“No, please stay. You guys were having a conversation and I interrupted,” Luna said, her eyes not moving from glaring at Raven. “I just wanted to remind Raven that she couldn’t blame anyone but herself for the pain she is in right now.” Then, she turned around and walked out of the room, leaving all of them in stunned silence.

Well, Kane really did it this time, Lexa thought. She shouldn’t have been surprised. It was only a matter of time before Luna started fighting back, and to be honest she was kind of proud of her.

 

_Jasper_

“A party isn’t going to fix us this time,” Monty stated, looking out at the pool.

“No, it’s not,” Harper agreed. Jasper let out a sigh. He knew that. But, he missed how they all felt when things were going well and they threw parties to celebrate. They came all this way to find love, for fucks sake. They should be having more fun.

“We just have to let them figure it all out for themselves,” Maya muttered, shaking her head. Jasper didn’t like how all of this affected her. She cried herself to sleep last night, which broke his heart. He had been fortunate enough to never be directly involved in the household drama… but that didn’t mean it hurt any less when it all went down. He missed his friend Raven. He missed seeing Luna happy. He missed how Roan would always be the life of the party.

“Maybe the four of us should just hang out tonight and avoid the rest of the house. If they want to let loose and have fun, they know where to find us,” Jasper suggested, already coming up with a few games they could play. He was tempted to invite Mom and Dad but figured they would be too worried about the rest of the house to actually be fun for once. It was his dream to have drunk Dad and drunk Mom to party with them at the same time… but he’d have to wait for that.

 

_Roan_

They were all supposed to throw this challenge. Clarke and Monty broke down the stats the night before and explained that Jasper and Maya winning would be the best thing as far as truth booths were concerned. Roan really didn’t agree but wasn’t in the mood to be on the receiving end of Clarke’s wrath again. In his opinion, they needed to focus on getting Luna and Raven into the truth booth in hopes of settling that whole fiasco. If they weren’t a match, maybe they could both move on.

Somehow, he had gotten matched up with Luna for this challenge, which kind of pissed him off. He was almost certain she couldn’t be his match. He wanted to pair up with Wells… but Raven snatched him up quickly.

Throwing the challenge didn’t seem to be too hard for him. This week, the challenge was basically the dating game. Kane asked a question and both of the partners wrote down their response. If it matched, they got a point. He and Luna did not match on a single question, which he wasn’t surprised by. He really didn’t know much about her. They had hung out early on… but they didn’t seem to ever talk about anything that wasn’t about the house. He also knew how badly she got hurt when he slept with Raven… and even though he knew it wasn’t his fault, he still felt guilty. All he had to do was look at Luna’s sad face to be reminded that his tendency to fall into quick random hook ups had serious consequences.

As he watched the other pairings struggle, he realized that they were all having the same problem. Jasper and Maya only got one point, despite how close they had been for weeks now. It was kind of hard to throw the challenge in their favor if they couldn’t even win it. Clarke got two questions about Bellamy right but he got none about her correct. Roan couldn’t help but laugh at that. Anya and Lexa got a total of three questions right. Raven and Wells managed to get one question right.

That left Monty and Harper, who were doing pretty good. After Maya and Jasper royally fucked up their turn, the rest of the house gave up on trying to throw the challenge. Worst case scenario, Anya and Lexa go into the truth booth and at least it won’t be a waste.

In the end, Harper and Monty won, getting four questions right. He hadn’t been listening to Clarke’s breakdown of how helpful each match going into the truth booth was… but he wants to say that Monty and Harper were on the more helpful side of things.

 

_Bellamy_

“I’m beginning to think you’re a secretive person,” he said to Clarke. They were both sitting in the hot tub, trying to drown out the sound of Jasper and Monty splashing each other in the pool.

“Why?” she asked while sipping out of her drink.

“You never told me you were in med school.” He couldn’t believe how little he knew about Clarke. He was thoroughly embarrassed after that challenge when he couldn’t even tell Kane what kind of career she was pursuing. He had just assumed it was art. She was always off somewhere sketching.

“I feel like I’ve mentioned it a few times… like maybe that time I had to take care of Monty after he drunkenly fell off the counter?” Now that she mentions it, he kind of remembers that conversation. But, he didn’t like her back then so he probably wasn’t paying attention.

“You seem really relaxed for someone whose plan for the challenge fell apart,” he pointed out, sort of confused by how mellow she had been all afternoon. Normally, she would be panicking.

“That’s tomorrow’s problem. Today’s problem is that you apparently think my favorite movie is some Nicholas Sparks nonsense,” she said, smirking at him. God, he really fucked up that challenge. He knew they were supposed to throw the challenge, but he was genuinely trying to get those answers right.

“We were supposed to throw the challenge, per your request, princess,” he smirked back. Clarke swung her legs over his lap, before nuzzling into his side. He wasn’t ever going to get over how amazing it felt to be this close to her. They hadn’t talked about the kiss from the other night and nothing had happened between them since, except for the occasional hand holding.

God, she crept up on him, he thought. He was so convinced just weeks ago that he was going to go home without finding a real connection with anyone. He couldn’t put his finger on the exact moment that he began relying on Clarke for everything but now he couldn’t imagine it any other way.

He turned his head to look at her face. Her brows were furrowed, clearly thinking through something.

“I thought we were going to have a fun day,” he reminded her, knowing that she was worrying about the stupid competition again.

“We are having a fun day,” she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Spit it out.”

“Raven hasn’t done anything. She’s so quiet and it can’t be good,” she explained.

“Nothing good has ever come out of trying to get Raven to do anything. Let’s just be grateful that she stopped going after Roan and leave it at that,” he replied, trying to be reassuring. Raven had been bothering him too. Nothing was getting accomplished. They didn’t know if they were a match or not, but it wasn’t good for the game to have both of them isolating themselves. Assuming Clarke was right about her predictions, it all came down to Raven, Roan, Luna, and Wells. And without truth booth confirmations, the house had no way of knowing which one matched up with who. He was leaning toward Roan and Raven being one match and Luna and Wells being the other. They wouldn’t be romantic pairings, but their temperaments seemed to match better that way.

Then again, that could all be wrong if the house was wrong about Anya and Lexa… which would mean they were more fucked than they could possibly fathom. He sighed, leaning his head over to kiss Clarke’s forehead. Just nine more days of this, he reminded himself.

There were moments where he couldn’t wait for this whole fiasco to be over. To go home and try to forget about all the petty drama that went on in this house. But, as he thought about Clarke, that suddenly made him feel sick. While he didn’t want to be in this house most days, he’d stay in it forever if that meant that he and Clarke stayed together. But, he didn’t know if they would make it once they left the house. They didn’t know how they would work out in the real world. That scared the hell out of him.

 

_Clarke_

Harper and Monty being a perfect match really didn’t help the house at all. Clarke was happy for them, sure. But, they were all already pretty certain about them, and this match really didn’t shed light into any of the matches that she was iffy on.

Jasper had tried to start a party to celebrate them being a match, but no one seemed to be in the mood except for the kids. Anya and Lexa were using any excuse they had to spend time alone together, not that Clarke could blame them. She knew the feeling all too well. Raven and Luna had both spent the last few days in opposite corners of the house, avoiding everyone. Wells was also in a really weird headspace, she had noticed.

The fight the other night still felt like it was vibrating through the house. She missed having a full house, reminding herself that they only had half of the house remaining to get matched. It was easier to bounce back from these fights when there were more buffers.

She was sitting on top of her bed across from Bellamy, who was helping her weed through her charts to see if she messed anything up. She kept going over each week, constantly returning to week three, frustrated that there were three possible matches that week and she couldn’t figure out which one to eliminate. She was pretty certain about Maya and Jasper, but, to be fair, the two of them didn’t exactly get to know a lot of other people in the house before pairing up. It could be one of those non-matches that keep the house from making progress. She really hoped that Wells and Raven weren’t a match for Wells’ sake, but she could see it. And then there was Anya and Lexa… and she really wanted them to be a match. She groaned and threw her head back.

“You need sleep, princess,” Bellamy pointed out. He was probably right. But, she didn’t want to stop. Strategizing aside, it was nice getting to be alone with Bellamy for a little bit… which got harder and harder every day. Between breaking up fights and getting interrupted by Jasper and Monty, this was really the first time they were completely alone together since that kiss.

“I will if you stay,” she said softly, hoping not to overstep. She felt nervous suggesting it, which was stupid. They had established that there were feelings. This shouldn’t be weird. But, he just smiled before pushing her papers aside and sliding into bed next to her.

“Are you going to make me stay on my side of the bed this time?” he teased, reminding her of the last time they slept in the same bed. She threw the remaining papers onto the floor before turning off the light.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she whispered, turning on her side to look at him. He was lying on his back, head turned toward her. She could barely make out his freckles in the dark, but couldn’t get over how beautiful they were.

“Get over here,” he said, with a very low commanding voice. She could feel herself hold her breath as she slid over to his side, resting her head on his shoulder, not breaking eye contact. He started using his thumb to stroke the side of her face as he kept studying her. “God, you’re so beautiful,” he whispered before pulling her in to kiss her gently. His lips barely pressed into hers and she slowly parted her lips, letting him in. He groaned into her mouth before flipping her onto her back and pressing himself on top of her.

She ran her fingers through his hair as he pulled back, staring intensely at her, not moving his hand from the side of her face. No one had ever looked at her like that, she thought, trying to recall a time in her life that she ever felt like this. He looked into her eyes so reverently, as if he had adored her for years and she could hardly breathe when he looked her like that.

She had caught this kind of glance from him a few times, but there was always someone else around and she couldn’t really acknowledge it. He started to kiss her cheek, moving toward her neck. She closed her eyes as she heard him murmur “so beautiful” over and over into her ear.

So, this is what falling felt like, she thought to herself. And, God help her, she was falling hard.

 

_Harper_

So much for celebrating her match, she thought to herself as she and Monty sat down with the other honeymooners. She had hoped the rest of the house would be as enthusiastic as they had been for other matches, but she should have known better. The Raven incident still loomed over the house and it was hard for anything to feel like a victory after that.

Oh well, she smirked to herself, she and Monty had a little celebration of their own that more than made up for it. She was so in love with him, it was disgusting.

The rest of the housemates seemed to be in a decent enough mood, which was more than she could say going into most of the match up ceremonies in the past.

“Clarke, who is your perfect match?” Kane asked. Harper was still kind of pissed at Kane. That video was the least chill thing he’s pulled… and that says a lot. It didn’t just affect Raven and Luna. She could see how it messed with everyone, herself included. She really didn’t like having to watch Monty’s interactions with Miller. She knew it was over and she had no reason to be jealous, but she didn’t like being reminded of how long it took for Monty to return her feelings. She could see that Lexa and Anya had tensed up a bit around each other after getting an ugly recap of all their early spats over strategy. Maya and Jasper had both gotten really emotional after the big house blow up a few days ago. Considering how Raven and Luna have been acting, she didn’t think Kane needed to poke at them just to get drama this week. It was only a matter of time anyway, she figured.

“Tonight, my perfect match is Bellamy.” Of all the other couples in the house, Harper was the most certain about those two. They were Mom and Dad, after all. They just belonged together. Bellamy took her hand once he got up to Kane. He never stopped touching her, Harper noticed. Clarke had this huge smile on her face as Kane asked them questions about them being together. She was absolutely glowing and Harper was so happy that she was finally happy.

Then, Anya chose Lexa. Harper felt less good about them. It’s not that she didn’t think they were a good match. It’s just that she really didn’t know what each of them were actually like. They were so guarded most of the time and she could never get a read on their personalities.

Then, Kane called up Luna. This ought to be good, she thought, leaning back in her seat.

“Tonight, my match is Wells.” She looked over at Monty, who was just as confused as she was. What the actual fuck?

“Wells, how do you feel about Luna choosing you as her match?” Kane asked, also seeming a little thrown by the choice. Sure, Luna wasn’t likely to pick Raven tonight… but she and Wells seemed so random.

“Dude, I don’t even know anymore. All I know is that she didn’t pick me because she actually thought I was her match.” Ouch, Harper thought. It was probably true… but still. She had never seen Wells so… off?

Then, Maya chose Jasper. Ugh, Harper was going to miss hanging out with them in the house. They had made plans to keep getting together once this show was over, but she didn’t know if that would even work out. They all lived in different places and Harper was already concerned that she and Monty wouldn’t be able to make this work once they left this island.

That left Raven and Roan as a match… which Harper really had to struggle not to burst out laughing over. It would be so funny if they ended up being a perfect match after literally calling each other sluts like that. Horrible for them, of course. But, still kind of funny.

“I can’t help but notice that the two of you don’t seem happy about being a match.”

“She wasn’t my first choice, no,” Roan replied coolly, clearly not wanting to talk about the fight with Raven.

“Who was your first choice?”

“Wells.”

“What about you, Raven?”

“I also wanted to choose Wells,” she replied, avoiding making eye contact with Kane. When did Wells become the most eligible bachelor of the house?

“Wells, any thoughts on all of this?” Kane asked, turning toward where Wells and Luna were sitting. Luna looked kind of awkward, but Wells just looked exhausted.

“To be honest, I’m kind of pissed off right now,” he said bluntly with a sharpness that Harper had never heard out of Wells’ mouth. He was always so calm and nurturing. Where the hell was this coming from?

“Care to elaborate?” Kane said, trying to conceal the smug look on his face. Well, he got the drama he was fishing for, Harper muttered to herself.

“Yes, Marcus. I would love to,” he said a little too sharply, sitting upright. “First of all, not one of them would have chosen me tonight if they weren’t all involved in that stupid fight. I have never been any of their first choice. Luna chose me because she’s pissed at Raven. Raven wanted to choose me because she hates Roan and feels guilty about screwing over Luna. Roan wanted to choose me because he hates Raven and Luna makes him feel guilty. I’m sorry, but this is a really fucked up situation and it makes me feel sick to think that one of them is probably my match,” he snapped, leaving everyone in the room speechless. Oh my God, she thought. The house broke Uncle Wells.

“Wells, it’s not like that,” Roan tried to explain.

“Maybe it’s not. Maybe all of your intentions were pure and I’m wrong. But, you have to admit that things must be pretty fucked up to put me in a place where I feel like this.” Wells leaned back in his chair and Clarke tried to give him a reassuring pat, but he swatted her hand away, crossing his arms.

Everyone sat in silence as the light ceremony began. They hit seven, just like last week and everyone leaned forward, hoping for just one more.

“Remember, guys. If we hit nine beams, that means that we’ll get all ten,” Murphy reminded everyone. They weren’t going to get all ten that night, Harper was pretty sure. It couldn’t be this easy.

They ended up getting eight, which means that they just need to switch two couples around to win. She was very excited and gripped Monty’s hand a little too hard.

“Before you guys leave,” Kane interrupted their celebration. “I have another surprise for you guys.”

Bellamy literally groaned and Harper had to hold back her laughter at that reaction.

“Since you guys have only one week left, the producers and I thought you might like to spend it all together. So, the couples who have been moved into the honeymoon suite are all moving back into the house!” Octavia started screaming, running over to Bellamy and attacking him with an adorable hug. Well, at least she and Monty didn’t have to say goodbye to Jasper and Maya just yet.

This could be fun, she kept reminding herself.

Or, you know, it could be a total disaster.


	14. When You Decide to Stop Being a Dumb Dumb

_Octavia_

“Get up,” she commanded Luna, grabbing her by the wrists and pulling her toward the door.

“Octavia, I’m really not in the mood.”

“I’m sorry, did I look like I was asking you? No, I’m telling you. Get the fuck up, go get a drink, and spend some time with your friends.” Octavia crossed her arms, giving her a stern look.

An hour ago, the house had all returned from the match up ceremony and the drinks had been flowing, thanks to her amazing bartending skills. However, she wasn’t going to let Luna sit this one out.

“I just don’t want to talk to some people right now.” Luna looked down at the floor, clearly still reeling from whatever the fuck had been going on in the house lately. Octavia sat down.

“Look, I don’t know the specifics of what has gone down since I left. But, you only get one more week with these people and I know you’re going to miss all of us. If there’s someone you want to avoid, you don’t have to talk to them. But, at least come hang out with me and Lincoln. We missed you,” she said with a soft smile.

She really had missed Luna. She had missed the whole house. She got to see the other honeymooners every now and then, but it wasn’t the same. And while she loved getting alone time with Lincoln, she knew she had plenty of time with him. She didn’t know when or if she would see the rest of these people again and was trying to enjoy every last second that she has in this house.

Luna looked up at Octavia, trying not to smile. “I will have one drink. That’s it.”

 

_Jasper_

What had possessed him to think that he could take Miller in an arm wrestling match? He blamed the beer, mostly. His hand ached from Miller slamming it down into the table and made a mental note not to get on Miller’s bad side.

“Who’s next?” Miller smirked toward the rest of the room.

“Oh, I’ll take that action,” Bellamy jumped in before taking Jasper’s spot. He was really proud of himself… especially because he had convinced Dad to actually participate in the party. Harper and Maya were still working on getting Mom to start being fun, though.

He and Monty watched Bellamy and Miller struggle to take the lead, but they seemed pretty evenly matched. Then, Miller smirked.

“God, Clarke won’t stop looking at you,” he said quietly to Bellamy, who immediately snapped his head toward Clarke, leaving Miller the perfect opportunity to slam Bellamy’s hand into the table.

“That was a dick move, man,” Bellamy tried to say sternly, but his smile still broke through. He was pretty buzzed.

“Not my fault you keep getting distracted,” Miller replied smugly. “Who’s next?”

 

_Echo_

She found Roan sitting outside on the patio, pretty much all by himself. A few people were out closer to the pool, but he was clearly keeping himself separate from them.

“Want to talk about it?” she asked, almost surprising herself. It wasn’t that she disliked Roan. In fact, there was a point in time where she really cared about him. But, they never had real conversations. It was all shallow flirtation and nothing more. But, after what went down at the match up ceremony, she couldn’t help but worry about him.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” he muttered, staring into his glass.

“Who is it?” she asked, wondering which of those three were getting under his skin. She would have guessed Raven, but she saw how disappointed he was to be matched up with her.

“Echo, you don’t have to do this. I’m sure there are a lot of other people you’d rather be talking to right now.”

She leaned back in her seat, looking over at Luna, Octavia, Lincoln and Bryan who were running around the pool. Octavia pushed Bryan in, then laughed so hard that she accidentally fell in too.

“Want to know why I chose you early on?” she asked, knowing that they had never actually had this conversation.

“Because we’re both flirts.”

“Because you and I are a lot alike. We’re not good at letting people in. We bury our feelings whatever way we can to avoid getting hurt,” she mused. She had a lot of time to think about why the game had matched her up with Finn over the last few weeks. And finally it clicked. He was her perfect match because he was persistent. He didn’t care about how many walls she put up. He kept coming at her and knocking them down until she finally let her guard down. He made her realize that letting people in, while sometimes painful, could also be incredibly wonderful.

Roan looked over at Echo, brows furrowed and shaking his head before looking back into his glass. “Why didn’t I see him earlier? How could I have missed him?”

Oh, he was talking about Wells, she realized. To be honest, she frequently forgot Wells was even in the house. It wasn’t that he was a forgettable person… he was just never in the forefront of drama. He was everyone’s friend and that made him almost invisible.

“You weren’t looking for him. You didn’t know what you were looking for,” she replied. That was kind of the point of this stupid show. They were all there because they didn’t know shit about their love lives. This was supposed to show them how to fix them.

“And now he’s hurting. He wasn’t my first choice and he knows it… and now he’s in pain,” he murmured. “I did that.” Roan’s face looked so sad, Echo thought. She had never seen him like this before. She’d seen him angry and frustrated… but never sad.

“He wasn’t your first choice. But, he can be your final choice. If that’s what you want.”

 

_Raven_

“There’s no strategy to be planning right now,” Harper explained to Clarke. A bunch of the girls were sitting at the kitchen table, catching up. Emori had told them the stories of the honeymoon suite brunches and get-togethers. They had been updating her on everything she had missed in the house and she was hanging on every detail.

“I know. I just think someone should stay sober in this house,” Clarke justified, even though Raven could see her resolve falling apart.

“If that’s your only hesitation, I will stay sober,” Raven offered, knowing she probably didn’t need to be drinking anyway. She had already pulled enough stupid shit lately and really didn’t need alcohol as an excuse to add to the list.

“Okay, I’ll have one drink,” Clarke bargained, even though she had to know that was a lie. Clarke was definitely a light weight, but that did not stop her from trying to go all in once she decided to join the party.

“Jasper, we got Mom to join us!” Maya shouted, as Clarke shot her a warning glare. Raven rolled her eyes and glanced outside. She could see Luna laughing in the pool, and that sight made her heart ache. She was happy that Luna could have some fun after all of this.

Raven sighed, wishing she could go back and fix things. But, she’d probably end up screwing everything up all over again. That’s all she was good at, anyways.

 

_Anya_

“Don’t worry, no one is even upstairs,” Lexa whispered into her ear as she pressed Anya up against the wall in the hallway. Lexa began kissing down her neck and Anya kept reminding herself to actually breathe.

“Maybe we should go into your room,” she suggested, feeling nervous about someone possibly coming up the stairs and seeing them.

Lexa looked up to give her a devious smile. “Isn’t it more fun this way?” she teased, knowing full well what this was doing to Anya. Ugh, she wasn’t fair, Anya groaned. Lexa’s smile only got bigger, knowing that she had gotten her way.

This girl was going to be the death of Anya. There was nothing she could do or say that could make her want to be anywhere else than beside her. She had hoped that she and Lexa could have a serious talk tonight… but clearly Lexa had something else on the brain.

She wanted to talk to her about the possibility of Anya moving into the same city as Lexa. Her job was mostly online these days anyway, she justified. And she was kidding herself if she thought that she could last five minutes not being in the same city as this girl.

 

_Wells_

He really tried to enjoy the party, but he just couldn’t. While he was happy to have all of his housemates back, he also felt a sting of jealousy whenever he saw them with their matches. He could enjoy this last week so much more if he could just figure out who his match was and move on.

He was pretty sure that he and Luna were one of the two non-matches that night. Assuming Clarke and Monty had been right, that means that his match is either Roan or Raven… and he was so angry at both of them at the moment.

“There you are!” Clarke shouted, jumping up on the counter next to Wells. He was going to miss her, he realized. She was his best friend in the house and didn’t know how he was going to deal with living eight hours away from her.

“It’s not like I was hiding. I’m literally in the kitchen,” he retorted, leaning his head against the wall.

“You know, you’re my best friend, you know that right?” she slurred, and Wells had to hide his smile when he realized that he was talking to Drunk Clarke. She leaned her head on his shoulder after swaying a little too much.

“I know that. You’re my best friend, too,” he said, smiling and leaning his head on top of hers.

“I’m sorry about what happened tonight,” she said, suddenly trying to be serious.

“It’s fine. I’m not that upset over it,” he lied. He was still furious. Everyone in this house seemed to just fall into romantic connections and here Wells was, without having any romantic relationship with anyone in the house. He didn’t come here expecting to fall in love… but he still expected something more than this.

“No one in this house deserves you,” she said, gripping his face to look at her. God, she was trying so hard to be taken seriously, he thought. But, he couldn’t help but grin at how affectionate Clarke was when she was three drinks in.

“I wasn’t anyone’s first choice and it kind of hurts.” Then, he felt Clarke slap his arm.

“You were my first choice you dumb dumb.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Nope. I don’t. No one ends up with their first choice except the Emori’s and Murphy’s of the world. Everyone is on their fourth or fifth choice now. Wanna know why?” she asked, poking him repeatedly in the chest. He shook his head in response. “Because we’re all dumb dumbs who had to fail a few times to find what we want.”

“And when am I going to find what I want?” he asked seriously. He hadn’t expected Drunk Clarke to be so insightful… but he shouldn’t be surprised. Sober her was a force to be reckoned with. Likewise, drunk her shouldn’t be underestimated.

“When you,” she said, tapping her finger on the top of his nose, “decide to stop being a dumb dumb.”

God, he was going to miss this girl more than anyone else in the house. Even drunk, she was the person who always picked him first. She could be cuddling up with Bellamy or partying with Echo. But, she chose to be here for Wells. Even if he didn’t fall in love with his match, Wells thought, he would walk away from this competition with his other half. His new best friend.

 

_Monty_

Someone kept throwing things at him and he couldn’t figure out who it was. Most of the house was hanging out by the couches, but every time he turned around to talk to Harper, something hit him from behind. At first it was an empty cup. Then, it was a pillow. The last thing that hit him was a flip flop. If he had been more sober, he probably would have noticed which person was missing a shoe.

It seemed like a Jasper move, but he was kind of uncoordinated due to just how much he had been drinking. Miller didn’t strike him as a guy to mess with people… unless that person was Bellamy. Dad and Mom were snuggled up on the couch, both looking like they were falling asleep.

He turned back around to see Harper, who was giggling.

“Harper, who keeps throwing things at me?” he asked, and she couldn’t keep a straight face. Then, he got his by another pillow, snapping his head around to try and see who did it. He looked over at Mom and Dad who had their eyes closed but were struggling to keep from smiling.

“Guys, I know you are throwing things at me.”

Dad leaned further towards Mom, doing that thing where he tried to whisper but clearly had no idea how loud he was. “Princess, pretend to be asleep.”

“I can fucking hear you!” Monty shouted.

“Shhh. Mom and Dad are sleeping, Monty,” Clarke said, struggling to keep a straight face. Then, he felt something else hit him from behind and it felt like another shoe. He turned around to see Harper giggling again.

“Harper, you’re grounded!” Dad shouted, and Monty finally broke. Ugh, they were all being so annoying. But, he had to admit that his little house family was really cute when drunk.

 

_Finn_

He couldn’t help but notice that Raven spent most of the night looking out the window. He really hated seeing her sad like this, especially considering how much guilt he felt over how he treated her.

“Mind if I sit?” he asked her, and she nodded without looking at him. “Want to talk about it?” he asked, thinking that maybe she would open up to him. They used to be so close… maybe they could be again.

“With you? I’d rather not,” she said blankly.

“I’m sorry,” he replied quickly, almost shocked at how easily that just slipped out of his mouth. He had been practicing his apology for weeks now, never getting up the courage to actually make it. He had practiced on Echo a few times and God did she call him out whenever his apology turned into excuses and crap. He vaguely remembered how she threw her hairbrush at him when he gave a “sorry you’re upset” kind of apology.

“You don’t have to do that. It’s been weeks. A lot has changed since then,” she replied coolly, still not making eye contact.

“I do. I wasn’t honest with you. I let you think you could trust me and then I turned around and broke your heart. That’s not okay. And I am so sorry.” Raven looked up at him, looking very confused. He had figured that she was done being angry with him… but he couldn’t help but think he was partially responsible for how she continued to act out.

“Like I said, I’m over it,” she blew him off. Finn took another drink, sighing. He wasn’t sure if he could ever fix things between them. He would like to be her friend, he thought. She was this incredible person who just made life better and he fucked it up. And now she was miserable.

“I’m a really selfish person, you know. But, Luna isn’t,” he pointed out, gesturing toward the window.

“Don’t you think I know she’s not you?” she snapped.

“Then, why are you treating her like she is?” he muttered, as he got up to leave. He walked back over to where Murphy and Jasper were, occasionally looking over his shoulder to see if Raven was still there. She was, every single time. It’s like she knew exactly where she wanted to be but couldn’t bring herself to actually go there.

 

_Bellamy_

This was the best night ever, he kept telling himself. They got eight matches, his sister was back in the house, and he got Miller back. Sure, he was a little bit drunk… but so was everyone else, so he was leaning into it.

He kept teasing Miller whenever he smiled because Bryan did something cute.

“You’re in so much trouble,” Bellamy teased, as Miller tried to bury his face in his hands.

“Dude, I know. It’s so bad,” he muttered, not able to force away his smile. His best friend was so happy, Bellamy thought. And that made Bellamy so happy.

“I know the feeling,” he whispered, looking back over at Clarke who was starting to fall into her sleepy drunk phase. She was still pretty alert, but not really able to focus on anything for more than a few seconds at a time. She currently had her head resting on his arm, blinking a few times before closing them again.

“You guys! We should do karaoke!” Maya yelled, and both Bellamy and Miller groaned. He was not going to stick around for that. It was getting too late and he really didn’t want to hear Jasper’s tribute to that one song from Titanic.

“Princess, want to go to bed?” he whispered, and she nodded in response. He helped her sit up and they both stumbled while trying to stand up. Bellamy was more drunk than he thought, he realized as he couldn’t remember what happened to his shoe. Clarke leaned into him as they slowly moved away from the couch toward the stairs.

“There are so many stairs!” she pointed out a little too loudly and Bellamy grumbled in agreement. So many stairs. He wasn’t sure he could make it up all those stairs.

He looked around and realized that the carpet looked really comfortable. They could just sit and rest there for a second and then try the stairs, he reasoned.

“Want to rest here for a second?” he asked, already trying to gracefully sit down on the floor. Clarke followed suit, even less gracefully than him, he noticed. He lied down on his back. Oh, he was right. The floor was so comfortable. It was just like lying on a cloud, he thought.

“This is the best floor in the world,” Clarke mumbled, as she tucked her head in between his shoulder and jaw.

“You’re not even on the floor, Clarke. You’re basically just lying on me,” he pointed out, struggling to keep his eyes open.

“Okay, you’re the best floor in the world. My favorite floor ever,” she slurred, snuggling even closer to him. She wasn’t making any sense, but he didn’t really care. He just liked being her favorite anything. He held her hand that had been resting on his chest and let his eyes close all the way.

“We’ll rest here for five minutes, then we’ll go to bed,” he murmured. But, he never made it up those stairs. The floor was just too comfortable.


	15. You're Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I finally finished this one up after the longest day of packing and then unpacking once I got back to Nashville. Now that my moving nonsense is over, I can get back to more important things, like supplying you guys with all the fluff and angst you can handle. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys like this update. I certainly loved writing it. Let me know what you think! I'll get another update up sometime tomorrow. 
> 
> Also, I'm mentally calling Roan and Wells "Ice Jaha" until someone comes up with a better ship name.

_Bellamy_

He would have to get out of bed pretty soon if he wanted to have some quiet time before the rest of the house woke up. He had forgotten how noisy living with nineteen other people could be. Not that he was complaining. He was pretty thrilled to be reunited with his sister and Miller. And he could tell that having the whole gang back together was good for Luna, who had been having a rough time. Despite all this, he still desperately wanted his hour of peace and quiet where he just read his newspaper and drank coffee.

And he would have gotten up by now… if getting up didn’t involve waking up Clarke. But, as she has done for the last few nights now, she slept with her head on his shoulder, which he was perfectly fine with.

He placed his hand underneath her cheek to gently move her off of him. So far so good, he thought. He lifted her cheek slightly and she didn’t stir. Then, he pulled his shoulder out from under her and slowly let her head down on a pillow instead. He then slowly sat up and slid out of bed.

She didn’t move once during all of that and her breathing was still consistent. He grabbed his pants, trying to quietly put them on, while constantly looking over to see if she was still asleep. She was, thank God. He had made the mistake of waking her up just yesterday… Even when she yelled at him the night of the Finn and Echo match up was still not as scary as waking her up before ten in the morning.

But, she looked peaceful, he thought. Her hair was a mess, mostly in her face. She had successfully stolen most of the blankets… not that he minded. He was always a little too warm in bed anyways and she always seemed to be cold. But, she looked cozy right then, he thought, trying not to smile too much.

He started to walk toward the door when he stepped on something and tripped into a table, making a loud noise. What the fuck was her hairbrush doing on the floor?

“Bell?” he heard Clarke ask.

“Sorry,” he whispered back.

“Where are you going?” she murmured, turning on her other side to face him.

“Coffee and newspaper, like every morning, princess.” She furrowed her eyebrows slightly before closing her eyes again, apparently just going back to sleep. He turned back toward the door.

“I’ll miss you,” he heard her whisper and he suddenly was questioning how much he wanted coffee.

When he got downstairs, he noticed that Murphy and Emori were asleep on the couch, cuddled up together. He rolled his eyes. Those two were just a little too in love.

He brewed his coffee and found that day’s newspaper. He could go outside on the patio so he doesn’t wake those two up, he reasoned.

But, he decided against it, taking his coffee and paper back upstairs. He tiptoed back toward his bed, putting his coffee on the bedside table. Clarke rolled back over.

“You came back,” she whispered, before snuggling next to his arm and grabbing his hand. He kissed her forehead, before pulling up his paper in his other hand.

Sure, it wasn’t his usual morning ritual since he wasn’t alone. But, he was fine if this became his new ritual.

 

_Jasper_

He always knew that one day one of his hobbies would actually prove useful. He was in the middle of this week’s challenge and was totally kicking ass. Kane announced a game of paintball assassin and Jasper was so thankful that Monty wasn’t in this game so that his only real competition would be Bellamy. He was going to win that date for him and Maya.

The first person he went after was Roan, partly because he was too tall to actually hide behind anything, making him a perfect target.

Maya had gotten shot early on by Raven, who Jasper decided to make his next target. He saw Wells throw his gun down and walk away, he must have gotten shot, he thought. He looked around. Clarke and Bellamy were clearly working together, which they were totally not supposed to do. It was every man for themselves. He saw Luna take a shot at someone and it sounded like Anya, based on the amount of swear words flowing out of her mouth. He ducked down behind the wall and tried to glimpse around it. He could barely make out Lexa creeping up on someone. He stealthily creeped to the side, to get a better shot. Lexa shot someone and right as she put her gun down, Jasper shot her in the arm.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she shouted. Then, he saw Raven and Lexa both march away. He moved back behind the wall, hoping that neither Bellamy nor Clarke saw him. Then, he heard footsteps on the other side of the wall.

He peered around, seeing Clarke holding her paintball gun at him and she pulled the trigger. But, nothing happened.

Oh, this is too good, he thought. She was already out of ammo.

“Alright Jasper, just shoot me,” she sighed. Where was Bellamy? He looked around but he wasn’t anywhere nearby. Then, Jasper got an idea.

“Where is your boyfriend?”

“I’m not telling you that,” she snapped.

“Bellamy!” he yelled. “Give yourself up or I’m shooting Clarke!” He could hear Roan and Anya laughing somewhere in the background.

“Jasper, that’s not going to work. You’re just going to shoot me anyway.” Then, he heard rustling coming from behind Clarke.

“How did you run out of ammo so quickly?” Bellamy asked, slowly stepping towards them.

“I have bad aim, okay? I used a lot on trying to hit Wells.”

“Yeah, thanks for that by the way!” Wells shouted from the other side of the challenge area. Clarke rolled her eyes. Jasper cleared his throat, trying to get their attention again.

“Okay, Jasper. I’m here. Please don’t shoot Clarke,” Bellamy said with a smirk. Clarke rolled her eyes again.

“Then, put your gun down.”

“Bell, don’t put your gun down. I’m going to get shot anyway,” Clarke argued, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. She wasn’t loving this little show down but Jasper was kind of loving the dramatics. Bellamy glanced over at Clarke.

“Jasper, I’m not putting my gun down,” Bellamy explained.

Jasper pointed his gun at Clarke, hand on the trigger, smirking at Bellamy. “Then, say goodbye to your girlfriend.” Clarke groaned. Bellamy had his gun pointed at Jasper but was slowly starting to lower it.

“Bellamy, what are you doing? Just shoot Jasper and win the damn challenge.”

“But shouldn’t we want Jasper to win so he and Maya can go to the truth booth?” he asked seriously. Clarke nodded in agreement, clearly not happy about losing. “Okay, Jasper,” Bellamy said boldly, clearly just as into the dramatics as Jasper was, “I’ll do anything you want. Just don’t shoot her.”

“Put your gun on the ground,” Jasper commanded in his most threatening tone. Clarke groaned again. Bellamy started to kneel down to put his paintball gun onto the ground.

“Just please don’t hurt her,” he mockingly begged, holding up both of his hands.

“Nah,” Jasper teased. “I’m gonna shoot her first and make you watch,” he said, shooting Clarke at the exact same moment.

“For fuck’s sake, Jasper,” Clarke hissed.

“Any last words, Bellamy?”

“At least Clarke and I will be together again soon,” he said wistfully.

“I’m literally standing right next to you,” Clarke pointed out. Jasper shot Bellamy in the shoulder and won the challenge.

“So, Jasper, who will you be taking on your date?” Kane asked.

“The love of my life, Maya,” he replied sweetly. Maya blushed before smiling back at him. God, he was so in love with this girl.

“You get to take another couple on this date. Who is it going to be?” Hmm, Jasper thought. The house’s plan was always to send him and Maya into the truth booth this week so it didn’t really matter who he sent on the date. He looked at the remaining housemates. Clarke and Bellamy were definitely a perfect match, so he wasn’t worried there. He was pretty sure about Anya and Lexa. And he was definitely sure that they were not a couple he really wanted to hang out with. He looked over at Wells. Who was he matched with? He was pretty sure it wasn’t Luna, but couldn’t remember who Monty said it was most likely to be. Then, he noticed that Roan wouldn’t stop looking at Wells. Oh good, Jasper thought. He had always wanted to play matchmaker.

“Roan and Wells,” he declared with a smile, ignoring the awkward glance between Roan and Wells.

 

_Roan_

This had to be the most awkward date of his life. Between Jasper and Maya’s obnoxious flirting and Wells trying to avoid conversation, Roan thought he might just die.

“Why did you come on this show?” he asked Wells, hoping to keep conversation going for more than thirty seconds before it all fell apart again.

“I was just tired of all my relationships falling apart. I always felt blindsided when they ended and I guessed that maybe it was because I was falling for the wrong people, you know?” He didn’t know, to be honest. He was used to being the wrong people that people like Wells fell for. He thought back to all his past relationships and how quickly things escalated into something serious. He started to feel sick, thinking about everyone he has hurt in the process. How many people he went to the next level with before suddenly feeling claustrophobic and disappearing. He looked up at Wells, who was genuinely a good person, and started to feel a sense of dread. Roan could hurt Wells, just like he hurts everyone else. Wells could fall for him and Roan didn’t know if he could become the kind of person who would ever stick around.

He sighed, looking back down at his plate. He had hardly touched his food but was too distracted to keep eating.

“What about you?” Wells asked. Roan wasn’t sure he had a good answer to that question.

“It’s complicated,” he muttered, trying to think of a way to change the subject. Idiot, he thought. He finally got Wells to start talking. And now he suddenly couldn’t speak back.

“Why is it complicated?”

“Because I don’t think I know,” he replied, avoiding making eye contact with Wells.

“So you just signed up for the show because you had nothing going on?” Wells joked. Well, he was kind of right. He saw the advertisement for the audition and thought, why not? It wasn’t like he was doing anything else with his life.

“Actually, yeah,” he opened up.

“I have a hard time believing that,” Wells said suspiciously.

“I don’t really have a lot going on in my life at the moment,” he explained. “I left my home a while ago, leaving me without a lot of close friends. It’s been kind of hard to be alone like this. So, I saw the audition ad and signed up.”

“Why did you leave home?” God, why was he asking so many questions? Did he always ask this many questions?

“It’s a long story. My mom is the mayor of my hometown and when I got into some trouble, she and I agreed it would be best for everyone if I left for a while. I didn’t want to hurt her chances of getting reelected and she figured I could use some space to get my act together,” he explained, hoping this would be the end of the questions.

“You’re lonely,” Wells observed. That’s not a word that Roan had really considered himself being. It was probably true, but it made him feel sad to put that label on it. He sighed again before looking back at his plate. “It’s okay. I’m lonely too.”

Roan jerked his head up to look at Wells. He looked so sad, which made Roan’s heart ache just a bit. He reached over to grab his hand and Wells shot him a confused glance before settling into it. They just sat there like that for a few moments… and it was nice.

Maybe they could be less lonely together.

 

_Monty_

“I’m telling you. This plan is the best one for tonight,” he explained to Bellamy, who was still shaking his head. Monty was getting a little bit agitated, considering how long he and Clarke had spent weighing the best options.

“I still think it’s worth the risk,” Bellamy argued as Octavia shook her head.

“Bell, it makes sense. It’s got to be Jasper and Maya,” she explained, putting her hand on his arm.

“Bellamy might be right, though,” Emori added. Ugh, Monty was getting frustrated. He almost liked it better when there were less people in the house. It was easier to control the vote that way.

“Clarke, explain it to them again,” he begged, hoping that they would actually listen to her.

“If we put Jasper and Maya into the truth booth, we will find out a perfect match regardless of what result they get. If they’re a perfect match, then they’re a perfect match. That would close out week four, five, and six,” Clarke explained. “But, if for some reason they’re not a match, we find two perfect matches… because,” she stopped, glancing back at her sheet, “we are still missing two matches from week three and the only possible matches left from that week are Lexa and Anya and Raven and Wells. Thus, if Jasper and Maya don’t match, that means that we confirm two other couples.”

“See? It is the safest bet and gives us the most information, regardless of the outcome,” Monty interjected. He loved it when Clarke agreed with him. He just hoped the rest of the house would follow suit.

“But, what if Roan and Wells are a match? That would solve last week’s problem because then we know that the two missing beams of light were them and whoever they matched with,” Bellamy countered, earning a few nods of approval from the others in the room. He didn’t like where this was going.

“And if they’re not, we get no information at all. They’ve never matched before in this game. It wouldn’t close out any weeks or give us insight into any other couple,” Miller explained.

“Guys, we only have one more match up ceremony left. I think we might need to take a leap of faith and accept the risk,” Murphy added, suddenly sounding really into the competition. He’s come a long way from the antisocial guy who didn’t want to be there, Monty thought.

“Let’s just vote on it,” Anya suggested, making Monty want to groan. He knew he was right and suddenly had a deep appreciation for how frustrated Clarke must have been those first few weeks of the competition.

“Are you sure about this?” he heard Clarke ask Bellamy.

“Yes, princess,” he replied with a smile. Ugh. Monty just lost Clarke’s vote.

 

_Clarke_

Roan and Wells had lost by two votes and Bellamy was trying not to act pissed off. After the vote, he went up to his room and shut the door behind him. Clarke followed him, of course, but hesitated to open the door. She really didn’t know how to comfort him yet, she realized. He had always been the one to calm her down and she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to pull this off. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

Bellamy opened the door to let her in, then closed it behind her, without saying a word.

“You were right. It would have been worth the risk,” she reassured.

“No, it was stupid. It probably wouldn’t have worked,” he muttered, putting his head between his hands.

“I think it would have. That’s why I changed my vote.”

“No, you changed your vote because you wanted me to be happy,” he blurted out. That was part of the reason, yes. But, the other part of it was that he was so sure about it.

“I changed it because of how confident you were about it. Like you know that they’re a match.”

“But I don’t know that. There isn’t enough proof to back that up.” She sat down on his bed next to him, his head looking up at the ceiling.

“There isn’t enough proof that we’re a match either, but we both know it’s true. This isn’t any different,” she explained, taking his hand in hers. He glanced over at her with the ghost of a smile on his lips.

He put his arm around her, pulling her by her waist so that she was sitting as close to him as possible. “Distract me,” he whispered, before putting his head on her shoulder.

“Did you know that Anya is going to move in with Lexa after all this?” She had overheard their conversation over breakfast and had been waiting all day to gossip with someone about it. She couldn’t believe how cute Anya was about it. She was just so excited and wouldn’t stop talking about it as Lexa just smiled and nodded in response.

“I could have guessed that. They seem to really love each other,” he said, kind of distantly.

“I mean, they do. And Anya is just so sweet to Lexa.”

“She’s okay,” he joked. “She’s nice to her… but it’s not like she took a bullet for her or anything,” he smirked.

“It was a paintball.”

“I still sacrificed myself for you, princess. And I’d do it again.” She rolled her eyes at him, not believing how cheesy he was being.

“You didn’t have to sacrifice yourself for me,” she teased, nudging his shoulder with hers.

“Oh, but I did.” He was still smirking at her.

“Why exactly is that?”

“You know why.” He turned so that his face was right in front of hers as he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

“What? You falling madly in love with me already?” she teased.

“Yeah,” he replied, without a hint of teasing in his voice. It was so matter of fact, she noticed. She held her breath, suddenly coming to terms with what he just said. He didn’t break eye contact, keeping a soft smile on his face. She needed to take a deep breath but wasn’t sure that she could manage it. Her heart felt like it was about to pound itself out of her chest. Bellamy Blake just admitted he loved her.

Her thoughts started racing. They had danced around this issue for a while now, not really sure if it was the right time to say it. Of course she loved him. But, it had to be too soon to say that, right? Maybe it wasn’t. Almost everyone who was coupled up in this house had said those words to each other. She took a deep breath, before realizing that she still hadn’t responded and Bellamy was still eagerly awaiting her response.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I was just thinking and then I realized that I wasn’t actually talking and I was supposed to be talking,” she ranted as he just gave her this funny look. “I didn’t know if I should say I love you or if it was too soon or if I was just overthinking it. I just---“ She got cut off when he crashed his lips into her, pulling her face close to him. She pulled back, trying to catch her breath.

“I love you,” he whispered, keeping his eyes closed and forehead pressed up against hers.

“I love you,” she whispered back, gently brushing her lips against his as she said it, keeping her eyes open to see his response. He smiled as he tried to kiss her back, struggling to keep the kiss going since he couldn’t calm his smile down. She started grinning, too.

“You love me,” he echoed, with his smile growing bigger every second. She traced his lips with her thumb, as she watched him react to what she just said. He was unbelievably happy and so was she.

“I love you,” she whispered again into his ear, as she started to kiss down his neck. He groaned slightly, before pushing her onto her back. He ran his fingers along the side of her waist as he kissed her lips. Then, he moved to her cheek. “I love you,” she kept repeating, loving the way his smile somehow kept getting bigger. He finally shut her up by kissing her hard, almost bruising her lips. He switched from being slow and deliberate to being aggressive and passionate, causing Clarke to struggle to catch her breath.

“God, you’re everything,” he murmured into her neck as he kissed her there. She ran her fingers through his curls as she laid her head back onto the bed. He kissed his way back up to her lips frantically, like he couldn’t kiss her fast enough. She could stay like this forever, she thought. This would be such a happy forever.

 

_Raven_

Luna was sitting outside on the patio all by herself. This was her chance, Raven thought.

She had been trying to talk to Luna alone for a few days now, but never seemed to get the chance. She was either by Octavia’s side or busy. She was occasionally by herself, but Raven thought she looked happy in those moments and didn’t want to ruin it.

“Do you mind if I sit with you?” she asked Luna, knowing that Luna probably didn’t want to be bothered by Raven anymore.

“Sure,” she muttered, not making eye contact.

“I was a dick,” she blurted out. This was not the apology she practiced. She was mentally kicking herself already.

“Understatement of the year.”

“No, I mean, I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve me freaking out on you like that and running away from you. You deserve better than that,” she said in the most genuine voice she could manage, hoping that Luna could believe her.

“You’re right. I didn’t deserve that,” she said, somewhat blowing Raven off. She knew that this was a possibility. She knew that Luna could chose not to forgive her. And it would be what Raven deserved.

“I pushed you away because I was hurting. You never hurt me… but I treated you like you were going to. I know you never would… but I still treated you like that,” she said, standing up to leave the patio. She got to the door, hoping that Luna would have stopped her by now. She turned back to look at Luna, who was just staring at her with a confused look. “I think you might be my match in this house. I think you’re a wonderful, beautiful person and I would be so lucky to be close with someone like you. If you were okay with it, I’d really like to spend these last few days here with you.”

Luna looked down at her feet, causing Raven’s stomach to drop. She knew this was a possibility. She knew she fucked up. She knew that pushing people away would make it hard to pull them back in.

“Okay,” Luna finally whispered, gesturing toward the seat next to her for Raven to come back. And Raven practically ran back to her.


	16. Our Last Drunken Party as a Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, we're approaching the home stretch here, guys. After this chapter (which is basically just all fluff) I've only got two more for you. The next one will be the final match up ceremony. Then, I'll give you guys a super long epilogue.
> 
> I hope you guys are still loving this! Love you guys! You guys have made writing my first fic such a great experience for me.
> 
> Also, hit me up on tumblr, I'm asroarke there too.

_Luna_

It was really weird waiting for the truth booth, she thought. This was the first time since Murphy and Emori left the house that they were all back together sitting on that couch. She was sitting next to Raven and Harper, listening to Kane give a dumb speech about how they had to make this truth booth count since it was their last one. Luna rolled her eyes. Everyone in that room knew what a big deal this truth booth was. He really shut just shut the fuck up and tell Jasper and Maya to go to the truth booth already.

She glanced over at Raven, who frantically turned away as if it would somehow fool her into not noticing she was staring at Luna. It was cute, she thought.

While she was still hesitant to be around Raven, she also knew there was nowhere else that she’d rather be. Earlier that afternoon, Raven had broken down and opened up about everything like her troubled relationship with her mother, her history of toxic relationships… just everything. And Luna suddenly understood. She wasn’t exactly going to just forgive her right away… but it all made sense. Raven wasn’t used to people just openly admitting their feelings. Finn was the first and he hurt her. So, Luna’s confession scared the hell out of her.

“And the couple you have selected to go into the truth booth is….” Kane paused for dramatic effect. “Jasper and Maya!” The room cheered in response as Jasper kissed Maya. Luna grabbed Raven’s hand, smiling to herself. She wanted what they had. Maybe one day that could be her and Raven.

 

_Lexa_

She really didn’t get what everyone had been so worked up about. Of course, Jasper and Maya were a match. To her, that had been obvious for weeks. She didn’t need the truth booth to tell her that.

But, having the hard proof sure made Anya and Clarke feel more confident about their match up ceremony plan. She looked over at Anya, who was conferring with Clarke and Monty about something.

“To reward you guys for finding another perfect match, we have a little surprise for you!” Kane announced, and Anya shot Lexa a worried glance. Lexa tried to think back to a point in the game where a surprise from Kane was actually a good thing. There wasn’t one.

“Well, what is it?” Roan snapped, earning a few laughs from Miller and Bryan.

“In two hours, we are throwing you guys a party,” he said with a smirk. Oh, she realized. The surprise was actually good this time. She might just have to stop groaning whenever Kane walked into the room.

“Fuck yeah!” Octavia shouted. “Everybody dress super fancy since this is our last party!” she screamed, turning around to the rest of the group. Lincoln just shook his head and smiled while a few of the girls in the back started loudly planning what they were going to wear.

“Can we not?” Bellamy complained, and then Octavia threw a pillow at him in response.

“Anyone have a tie I can borrow?” Murphy asked. What was she going to wear, she wondered. She had packed a few dresses in case they needed to dress up. There was one dress that she thought Anya would like. Yeah, she thought, that’ll be the one.

 

_Bryan_

It took him literally five seconds to get dressed… which gave him at least an hour and a half until the party was supposed to start. He wandered by the bedrooms, hearing Jasper ask if anyone knew how to use an iron.

Bryan didn’t want to distract anyone from getting ready, so he decided to head downstairs and see if anyone else was already ready to go. Then, he saw Clarke, Monty and Anya sitting around the kitchen table, going over papers.

“So, have we figured it all out yet?” Anya asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

“Well, since Jasper and Maya are confirmed, we now know for certain that Raven and Wells are not a match,” Monty explained.

“That was week five, right?” Clarke asked, looking for the sheet of paper that covered week five. Bryan quietly joined them at the table, noticing that none of them were actually dressed and ready to go. He figured that they had their own priorities here… But, based on how messy Monty’s hair was looking, he definitely prioritized wrong.

“Yeah,” Monty replied.

”Okay, well Raven and Wells were one of the two remaining possibilities for week three, which means that Lexa and Anya are now confirmed.”

“No fucking duh,” Anya snapped. Clarke ignored her.

“So, with them being a perfect match, that leaves Bellamy and Clarke as the final couple from week eight,” Monty furthered, without looking up. Clarke started smiling excitedly, and Bryan felt really happy for her.

“He’s my match,” she said quietly, and Anya rolled her eyes.

“That just leaves the Roan, Raven, Luna, and Wells clusterfuck, right?” Anya asked, agitatedly.

“We know that Roan and Raven aren’t a match and neither is Wells and Luna because of week nine,” Monty explained.

“Oh my God! Wells isn’t a match with Raven either which leaves him with Roan!” Clarke shouted!

“And Luna with Raven,” Monty finished her thought. All three of them began smiling, and Clarke literally screamed out of excitement.

“Good job, guys,” Bryan added in. Then, he heard someone run down the stairs.

“Is everything okay?” Bellamy asked frantically, looking to be a bit confused by the huge smile on everyone’s face. Clarke ran up to him and attacked him with a hug.

“We just won the game,” she explained and Bellamy started smiling in response.

Bryan rolled his eyes playfully, before heading down the hall toward Miller’s room. He knocked before barging in.

“I have no idea how to tie this,” Miller said, looking down at his tie with a frustrated look on his face.

“Here, let me,” he said, walking over to him to tie his tie.

“You look nice,” Miller said with a smile on his face.

“You’re not too bad yourself,” he replied, trying to keep his blush in check. He was failing.

 

_Murphy_

“I’m sure you look fine,” he shouted through the door, waiting on Emori to let him in.

“You’re damn right I do, but you’re still going to wait,” she snapped. He sat down next to the door, tired of standing around.

“Murphy!” Wells shouted before running over to sit next to him.

“Hey, man. How’re you doing?” He looked at Wells, who had a ridiculously big smile on his face… which was kind of weird if you asked him. It’s not like the house didn’t have something to celebrate… but he just looked a little too happy.

“Shh don’t tell anybody this but I’m a little bit drunk,” he whispered loudly, before leaning a little too far into the wall.

“Dude, the party hasn’t even started yet.”

“Octavia has a bunch of people pregaming downstairs.” Oh God, Murphy thought. So much for their classy party. Octavia’s drinks were lethal, he remembered from the last time he was in the house. It wasn’t that he didn’t like drinking… he just thought the party wasn’t going to start until, you know, the actual party started.

“Who all is shit-faced?”

“Me, Harper, and Echo. Maybe Monty.” Wells leaned his head on Murphy’s shoulder as Emori finally opened the door. She was wearing a short red dress and very high heels and Murphy was in so much trouble. She was too damn beautiful and it was going to destroy him.

“Hey, handsome. Ready?” she asked Murphy, giving a weird look toward Wells, who was apparently resting his eyes.

Murphy shrugged Wells off his shoulder before standing up and kissing Emori on the cheek.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered into her ear as he pulled her toward the stairs.

 

_Octavia_

Everyone looked damn good, she thought. The people who set up the party did a great job decorating. She really liked all the lanterns and candles, thinking that it made the whole vibe of the party more romantic. She was currently slow dancing with Lincoln who kept smiling at her.

She looked over at Bellamy, who was snuggled up with Clarke in the corner talking excitedly about something. She was so happy for him. She couldn’t remember a time where he seemed this happy. As hard of a time as he gave her for putting him on this show, she knew she was right to do so.

“Have you told him yet?” Lincoln asked, observing who she was looking at. She glanced up at him, noticing the warning look on his face.

“Not yet. I’m thinking I should just tell him after,” she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“You know you should tell him before.” She knew Lincoln was probably right. Bellamy didn’t like being left out of the loop… and he really hated it when she purposefully kept things from him. But, she also knew that sometimes it was easier to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission.

“It’ll be fine,” she reassured with a smile. She looked back around at their last party. Everyone looked like they were having a good time. Luna and Raven were dancing, Monty and Jasper were laughing, and Anya and Lexa were displaying a little too much PDA, she thought.

This was their last party, she reminded herself, thinking back to their very first party just ten weeks ago. None of these people were the same people they were when this all started. They all changed for the better, she thought.

“Hey, I love you,” she said to Lincoln and he kissed her.

“And I love you.”

 

_Harper_

“Do you ever feel like we’re third wheeling?” she asked Maya, looking over at Jasper and Monty who were arguing about another dumb show that she had never seen.

“Literally always,” she joked.

“Hey guys!” she shouted to the boys. “If you two don’t knock it off, we’re both leaving you for each other.” Jasper made a fake outraged look at Maya and Monty just laughed.

“Sorry,” Monty whispered into her ear before kissing her on the cheek.

“I’m going to miss hanging out like this,” Maya said wistfully. Ugh, Harper knew the feeling. As stressful as staying in this house had been, she was going to miss it. She had grown close to so many cool people and didn’t know when she would see any of them. She figured she’d see Maya and Jasper plenty, given the weird bromance Jasper had with Monty.

“This is our last drunken party as a family,” Jasper said with a pout. Then, his eyes widened before shouting, “Mom! Dad! The kids need you!” Monty started chuckling. Harper looked over at Clarke and Bellamy, who were shooting each other exasperated glares. They eventually came over.

“What is the emergency? Mom and Dad were having some alone time,” Bellamy scolded. That was followed by a few ooohs from Jasper and Monty.

“Our family is going to have to split up tomorrow and we are going to miss Mom and Dad!” Monty joked.

“Aww, sweetie, we’ll always be your mom and dad,” Clarke reassured in a joking tone.

“Did Clarke just admit to being our mom?” Jasper jumped up and hugged her frantically. She shot Bellamy a weird look before patting Jasper on the back. Harper couldn’t help but smile a bit. She was going to miss Mom and Dad too.

“Are you going to be a cool mom and drink with us?” Maya asked, and Clarke and Bellamy shared another look.

“Okay,” she gave in, sitting down next to Maya and grabbing a glass. Bellamy let out a sigh and followed suit.

“Cheers!” Harper yelled, holding up her glass.

“To our last visit from Drunk Mom and Drunk Dad!” Jasper shouted! Clarke and Bellamy both rolled their eyes before drinking. This was going to be a good night.

 

_Miller_

How did everyone get so drunk so quickly? He and Bryan had stayed relatively sober, but it was like the entire party had been chugging vodka all day.

“You know, you’re my best friend,” Bellamy slurred, putting both of his hands on Miller’s face.

“And you’re my best friend,” Miller reassured, patting Bellamy on the head.

“Are we ever going to hang out again? I’m going to miss you the most.”

“Of course we are. But, isn’t Clarke who you’re going to miss the most?” he asked, wondering how they were going to keep their relationship going. He knew Clarke was still in med school and Bellamy was also still finishing up school. It couldn’t be easy to go long distance.

“I’m going to see her all the time, you dummy,” he said, leaning his head on Miller’s shoulder. “I’ve got one semester left and then I can move and be with her forever.”

“Forever? You cannot be the same guy who told me on the first night that love is stupid,” he teased, remembering how cynical Bellamy had been just ten weeks ago. Hell, just five weeks ago, if he was being honest.

“That was before Clarke,” he pointed out, looking over toward her. Oh God, Miller realized. Clarke was just as drunk and doing that thing where she pokes people’s noses for no real reason. Bellamy leaned into his ear to whisper, “I’m gonna marry her.”

Miller knew he was drunk and therefore shouldn’t be taken seriously… but he knew it was true. Those two were definitely going to get married and have lots of kids and become real life Mom and Dad. He was already writing his best man’s speech in his head.

Bryan came back over to them, carrying glasses of water. “Here, Bellamy.”

“I’m fine. I’m not even tipsy,” he mumbled, trying to stand up. Bryan shot Miller an amused look.

How did he get so lucky, he wondered. Sure, it wasn’t easy finding Bryan. But, he was so thankful.

 

_Wells_

He was starting to sober up, kind of. Roan had taken him back to the house to get him some coffee. It was sweet how he was taking care of him. He was so lucky.

“Come on,” Roan said, leading Wells up the stairs.

“You’re so sweet,” Wells said, leaning into Roan’s shoulder.

“Gotta take care of you. You’re a hot mess tonight.”

“So, you think I’m hot?” Wells asked with a devious smile. Roan rolled his eyes, as he opened Wells’ bedroom door.

“Let’s get you into bed,” he mumbled, gently pushing Wells toward his bed. Now that Wells thought about it, he was kind of sleepy. He leaned down to put his head on the pillow, as Roan took off his shoes. He was so sweet, he thought, closing his eyes.

“Don’t I get a goodnight kiss?” he asked with a pout and Roan complied with a peck on the cheek. That wasn’t what Wells had in mind. “That’s it?”

“For now, yeah,” Roan said very decidedly. Wells started to pout again. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I just probably shouldn’t.”

“Why not?” he asked, sitting up. Why wouldn’t Roan want to kiss him? He was cute and nice and totally kissable, he thought.

Roan sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “It’s hard to explain. It’s just that I’ve realized that I’m a mess of a person right now. And you’re not. And I don’t want you to have to take on my mess. I need to take some time to sort out my mess and I don’t expect for you to wait for me to figure it all out.”

“I’d wait for you,” Wells whispered, suddenly feeling how heavy his eyelids were getting. He started to close his eyes but felt Roan kiss his forehead. Yeah, he’d wait for Roan, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

 

_Clarke_

It was really hard to pretend to not be drunk… but she was pretty much nailing it. Most of the house was pretty drunk still, even though the party had ended hours ago. Bellamy had his arm around her as they walked toward the living room, trying to act as sober as possible.

“Where are you two off to?” Raven asked with a smirk.

“Outside,” Clarke answered, thinking that the shorter her answers were, the less likely anyone would know how messed up she was.

“We like to go outside,” Bellamy added, trying not slur his words.

“Okay, you kids have fun,” Luna said, turning back around to continue her conversation with Raven.

She and Bellamy started to walk toward the back door. “We fucking nailed that. They didn’t even suspect we were drunk,” she whispered to him.

“Clarke, you know you’re not actually whispering, right?” she heard Raven yell from across the room. Shit, she thought. She really thought they were nailing it.

Bellamy pulled her by the hand toward the pool area. He laid down on one of the larger lounge chairs and smirked up at her. She sat on his lap, resting her head against his chest. She was going to miss these moments the most, she realized. She knew that tomorrow night wasn’t going to be goodbye for them… but it still felt like an ending.

“Are you sad?” she asked.

“Why would I be sad? I’m with the girl I’m madly in love with. I’ll never be sad again,” he responded, running fingers through her hair.

“I meant about leaving the house.”

“There are people I’m going to miss… but we’ll all see each other again, I’m sure.”

“I’m going to miss the kids,” she joked, running her hand up and down his arm.

“It’s okay. We can always make more,” he blurted out. She looked up at him, expecting to see an embarrassed face, but instead he just looked back at her smugly. “I stand by that one,” he joked, as he pulled her in for a kiss. It was messy… they were both way too drunk for it not to be.

“Do you remember that first week?” she asked with a smile on her face.

“I try not to.”

“You hated me,” she teased, poking his chest a little and laughing when he started to blush.

“What was it that you said about me? That I was a real dick?” he teased back.

“I stand by that one,” she joked, before he pulled her back in for another messy kiss.

“We hated each other, and now I don’t know how I could ever live my life without you,” he said seriously, still close enough that she could feel his lips move as he talked.

“I love you,” she whispered into his cheek before kissing him there. He started smiling again, causing Clarke’s heart to jump.

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to hearing that. It’s the most beautiful sound in the world,” he whispered back, pulling her back into his chest.

“You have to say you love me back,” she said with a mock pout.

“You know I do,” he said with a teasing tone.

“But, I like hearing you say it.”

Bellamy put his hand under Clarke’s chin, forcing her to look at him. “I,” he said, kissing the top of her nose. “love,” he continued, as he kissed her forehead. “you,” he finished, before kissing her on the lips slowly. Clarke couldn’t control her smile as she leaned back into his chest and closed her eyes. Yeah, this did feel like an ending. It was the ending of their first chapter.


	17. It Was Always Her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, guys. I meant to get this up last night once I got home from my niece's dance recital, but I totally forgot. Anyway, here's the final match up ceremony and all the fluff you could want!

_Luna_

“If we are going to do this, I need you to make me a promise,” she whispered to Raven on the walk to the match up ceremony. Luna was surrounded by her giddy housemates as they were all talking excitedly about figuring out how to win the game. She tried to be excited about the game… but there was something she needed to deal with first.

Raven stopped abruptly, and Luna turned to face her. The rest of the housemates kept walking, not fazed by their abrupt halt. “Anything,” Raven replied with a pleading face.

“Promise me that you’re not going to run away from me again,” Luna murmured, looking down at her feet. She knew why Raven did it. She understood and she forgave. But, Luna wasn’t sure she could go through all of that again.

“I promise. No more running. I’m yours,” Raven said, lifting Luna’s chin up to meet her gaze. She looked so sincere and pleading and Luna wanted to just melt right there. She pulled Raven in for a quick peck on the lips, before grabbing her hand and following the rest of the house.

 

_Monty_

“Your flight leaves at noon, right?” Harper asked for the millionth time. Monty didn’t really mind. It was kind of sweet how she wanted to go over every single detail to make sure she got as much time with him as possible before he left. He nodded. “Okay, well mine doesn’t leave until four but I can still go with you to the airport.”

“Harper, you don’t have to do that,” he replied, trying to keep his voice down. The crew was busy doing lighting checks and getting everyone in their positions. “I don’t want you to have to wait around the airport for hours after I leave.”

“I know I don’t have to… but I want to spend as much time with you as possible before you head home,” she said with a sad expression sprawled across her face. Monty grabbed her hand to reassure her.

“It’s just one month. We can handle being apart for one month, right?” he asked with a smirk. They had been over this plan many times already. She shot him a stern look. “I’ve waited my whole life for you, Harper,” he continued as he stroked the back of her hand. “One month is nothing in comparison.”

 

_Murphy_

“Welcome to your final match up ceremony,” Kane announced with that creepy smile. Murphy was so happy that he hadn’t had to see Kane much since leaving the house. That guy rubbed him the wrong way. “Tonight, you all will choose the person who you believe is your perfect match. Once everyone has chosen, we will light one beam for every perfect match you get correct. If you get all ten beams of light, you guys will walk away from this house with one million dollars!”

The entire room started cheering in response, even Emori. Murphy had to smile at that. She normally wasn’t very into this competition… but since they were all pretty sure that Clarke and Monty were right, it was much easier to get into this dumb game when they knew they could win it.

“Tonight, you guys start out with six beams of light to represent your six confirmed perfect matches!” He looked over at the remaining housemates, amazed by how many smiles he saw. He hadn’t seen them all so happy since the very first night of competition. Most match up ceremonies occurred during a time in the week where tensions were very high. It was nice that their last one could be a peaceful one.

“Before we start picking our final matches, I am going to remind the viewers at home about the six confirmed couples. Let’s start with our first confirmed match: Murphy and Emori!” He and Emori smiled and waved toward the camera as Kane marched over toward their bench. “You two seem to be very happy together. Emori, what has it been like getting to spend all this time with Murphy in the honeymoon suite?”

Emori looked at Murphy as if she wanted to roll her eyes but couldn’t because of the cameras. “It’s been really wonderful. I’m really lucky to have found someone like Murphy. I never thought I’d feel like this,” she explained sweetly and Murphy knew she was telling the truth. She had a troubled life before this show and had opened up to him about it only recently.

“Murphy, what is the plan for you two going forward?” Kane asked, and Murphy felt a little bit annoyed. He didn’t know. He knew this show would eventually end and things would inevitably change between him and Emori because they’d go back to the real world. But, he had been in denial and was just trying to enjoy how simple everything was now.

“Honestly, the only specific thing we have planned is being together. I love her and I’m not letting her go,” he explained pleasantly. Then, Kane moved on.

“I’m not going to miss that guy,” Emori whispered into Murphy’s ear and he had to do his best not to burst out laughing.

 

_Finn_

“The second couple to be confirmed didn’t have as easy of a time getting together but seem to be doing alright,” Kane continued and Echo rolled her eyes. God, this guy has got to be kidding them. Like, Finn had moved on from all the nonsense that went down back when he and Echo were thrown into the truth booth. But saying they didn’t have “as easy of a time getting together” was the understatement of the year. Kane started walking over toward their bench and he heard Echo mutter “for fuck’s sake” under her breath. Finn tried to control his chuckle.

“Finn and Echo, how have you guys been doing since the house threw you into the truth booth?” Oh, cool. He wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it.

Echo plastered on the fakest smile she could manage before saying sweetly, “We’ve been doing just fine, Kane.” Kane hesitated for a second, clearly expecting a more volatile reaction from her. Not that Finn could blame him. Their situation kind of sucked. They had managed to make the best of it, of course. But, it seemed like Kane was banking on them still being pissed.

“Yeah, while Echo and I were not happy about how our perfect match occurred, we have moved on and have made the best of the situation,” Finn elaborated.

“So, have you guys managed to make a romantic connection in the time that you’ve been away?” Kane asked with a devious expression on his face. Ugh. Finn knew that Kane was well informed about what the honeymooners had been up to. He knew the answer to that question. He really didn’t need to bring it up here and now.

“No,” Echo snapped quickly, almost a little bit too harshly. “Honestly, Finn has become my closest friend. I understand why we are a perfect match now, but we both realized that we weren’t ready for a romantic relationship.”

“A perfect match is supposed to be the person that you need in your life to make you a better person. And Echo and I both needed a best friend. So, that’s what we are,” he added, trying to keep a smile. Finn wasn’t upset about his relationship with Echo. Honestly, it was what he needed in his life. After everything that went down with Raven, it was clear that Finn wasn’t ready for an actual romantic relationship. He needed someone that wasn’t afraid to call him out on his shit. And that is what Echo had become.

Kane moved on, walking away from them finally.

“Is it really that hard to believe that we’re not fucking?” Echo said sarcastically, not even trying to whisper. Kane shot them a stern look, and he and Echo burst out laughing.

 

_Lincoln_

He grabbed Octavia’s hand in anticipation of Kane heading toward them. She didn’t seem bothered by the attention he was giving to the honeymooners, Lincoln noticed. He didn’t really care either. He and Octavia didn’t really have any drama in the house and really didn’t have much to worry about.

“So, Octavia, how did you know that Lincoln was your match?” Kane asked, sitting down at the bench next to them.

“When I kissed him, I felt like I was finally home,” she replied with that huge smile on her face. God, Lincoln loved that smile. He loved it when he first saw it and he loves it even more now. He loved that smile before he even knew her name.

The rest of the house echoed a few awws in response to Octavia’s answer and Lincoln could feel his smile mirroring hers.

“What about you, Lincoln? How did you know it was Octavia?” Octavia turned to look at him with a teasing look on her face.

“That first day when she showed up late… I fell in love with her smile. That’s when I knew,” he replied to Kane without breaking eye contact with Octavia. Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes and Lincoln went to kiss her forehead.

He looked over and even Kane had a huge smile on his face. He could hear whispering of more awws coming from where the rest of the house was standing. Octavia grabbed his hand and Kane mumbled something about them being the favorites of the house. Lincoln wasn’t really listening. How could he when Octavia was looking at him like that?

 

_Miller_

Kane was taking forever on these recaps, Miller thought. He knew it was all to remind the audience at home of what had been going on in the house… but still. The audience probably could remember how each couple got to this match up ceremony. Miller was more annoyed that Kane felt the need to recap his brief fling with Roan. He could see that it was making Bryan tense.

“So, Bryan, how have you and Miller been doing?”

Bryan shot a quick glance at Miller before replying, “Really great, Kane. Getting some alone time in the honeymoon suite has brought us even closer together.” Miller let out a deep breath. He knew that he and Bryan had been solid… but something about having to talk to Kane like this just made him nervous.

“Miller, you’ve had an interesting journey on this show. Do you have any regrets?” Ugh, there it was, he thought. Of course, Kane was going to hint at his brief relationships with Monty and Roan. He didn’t give Echo a hard time, so why was he coming after Miller? Miller was hardly the most scandalous person in this house.

“No,” he blurted out. “The journey I took on this show got me to Bryan. So, I don’t regret any of it,” he replied sharply. He didn’t want to give Kane any encouragement to keep asking probing questions. Miller had already suffered enough in this house and he just wanted to focus on Bryan.

Bryan put his arm around him protectively, and Miller let out the breath he had been holding. Bryan always knew how to make him feel safe, he realized with a smile.

 

_Harper_

Monty gripped her hand a little too tight, like he was afraid she was going to disappear. She squeezed back, to remind him that she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Our fifth confirmed match is Harper and Monty!” Kane announced, sitting down next to them on their bench. “Harper, do you and Monty have plans going forward?”

“Yes,” she answered. “We are getting a place together in about a month.” Monty nudged her shoulder as she said that and she couldn’t help but smile.

“So, Monty, do you think Harper is ‘the one’?” Kane asked seriously. Harper whipped her head around to make sure she could see his reaction.

“Of course,” he replied confidently, looking directly at Harper as he said it. She could feel her heart pounding at that confession. God, she loved him. She couldn’t wait for their forever to start.

 

_Jasper_

God, this ceremony was so boring so far, he thought. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy for all his fellow confirmed matches… It’s just that this was all old news. He was more interested in how people would react to the nonconfirmed matches. That’s where the real drama lies. He didn’t need to hear his housemates gush about how much they were in love with their matches. He wanted to hear Echo’s snarky remarks at the final matches or watch Clarke bitch slap somebody. He needed someone to shout, “I didn’t come here to make friends. I came here to win.”

Maya gave him a stern look, as if she was reading his thoughts. Ugh, she’s right, he thought. He should just be happy for everyone and thankful that no one wants to kill anyone.

“So, Maya, you and Jasper have been matching up for a long time now. Were you relieved when you found out you were a confirmed match this week?” Kane asked. Bruh, he was really struggling with these questions, Jasper thought. He had probably been banking on Finn and Echo blowing up and didn’t put much effort into starting anything else for the rest of the night. Who would have thought that those two managed to chill the fuck out so quickly?

“It didn’t really matter. I knew I wanted to be with him, regardless of if he was officially my perfect match. He’s always been my perfect match, regardless of what the game says,” she replied sweetly. Aww, Jasper thought. Okay, maybe he had judged the fluff from earlier a little too harshly. He didn’t really mind it when it was coming from Maya.

“I don’t know about perfect,” Jasper couldn’t help but add in with a smirk. “But, I’m pretty damn close.”

 

_Wells_

“Alright, now that we have heard from our confirmed couples, let’s get to the rest of the match ups. First up: Wells!” Kane announced, heading back to his podium. Wells started walking up to Kane, already preparing himself for whatever questions this idiot came up with next.

“So, Wells, who is your perfect match?”

“Kane, tonight my perfect match is Roan,” Wells replied with a smile, as he heard Roan walk up behind him. He was thrilled when Clarke told him that Roan was definitely his match… but he almost couldn’t believe it. Sure, he and Roan became friends early on in the house. But, he never thought that he and Roan could be anything more than friends.

“I can’t help but be surprised at this choice, Wells,” Kane explained with a mildly confused look on his face. “You two haven’t matched up before. What has happened between you two to inspire this choice?” Wells didn’t know how to answer that, he realized. He wasn’t sure if anything had actually changed between them. Sure, Roan had been sweeter to him lately… but they also hadn’t even kissed. He didn’t know if he was reading into things.

As if sensing his hesitation, Roan jumped in, “Wells and I have had a lot of honest conversations lately about where we are in life and what kind of people we need. I realized he was the kind of person I needed and I really hope I’m the kind of person he needs.”

Roan looked back at Wells after answering Kane, as if searching for a signal that his answer was okay. That didn’t really answer Wells’ questions about what kind of relationship they have… but this is good enough for now. He and Roan went to sit down at their bench and he noticed that Roan’s hands were shaking.

Oh my God, Wells thought, Roan was nervous. He’d never seen Roan act nervous before.

“You okay?” Wells whispered and Roan nodded, grabbing Wells’ hand.

 

_Lexa_

“Kane, tonight my perfect match is Lexa,” Anya announced, looking back at her with a huge smile. Lexa could just melt right where she was standing, she thought. She practically ran up toward Anya to lock in their match.

“Lexa, this is your second time matching up with Anya. Does this mean that you two are becoming serious?” Kane asked, as if he didn’t already knew. Everyone on the set of the show must know, Lexa thought. The two of them were constantly sneaking off together. They couldn’t be more obvious.

“Of course we’re serious. I love her,” Lexa blurted out, before remembering that she hadn’t exactly said that to Anya yet. A blush started to take over her cheeks as Anya’s head snapped around.

“And I love her,” Anya echoed, not breaking eye contact with Lexa. Anya loved her, she kept reminding herself as they sat down. They were in love, she realized. When did that happen, she kept wondering. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment where she knew it was true… it had crept up on her.

 

_Raven_

“Raven, who is your perfect match?” Kane asked. Raven knew it was Luna… Clarke had confirmed it after all. But, she still couldn’t believe it was actually true. After everything they had been through, she wasn’t sure that she deserved Luna.

“Kane, tonight my perfect match is Luna.” Luna’s face lit up as she skipped up toward her.

“You two have been on quite a journey together. Luna, have you and Raven worked everything out?” he asked in a way that clearly was trying to provoke some kind of dramatic outburst. Raven believed Luna when she said that they were okay. But, she was still nervous about her response.

“We’re better than ever. I feel good about us,” she replied, without a hint of hesitation. Raven let out a deep breath that she didn’t know she had been holding in. Luna grabbed her hand, to reassure her. God, she was always doing that, Raven noticed. Since the beginning, Luna had always been trying to make Raven feel calm and safe… two things she wasn’t used to feeling. It’s like Luna knew what she needed before Raven ever figured it out.

She and Luna had a lot of things left to work out… but she was becoming okay with that. It might take some time. But, they had plenty of time ahead of them and Luna was worth the wait.

 

_Clarke_

“That just leaves Clarke and Bellamy!” Kane announced.

“Yaaas Mom and Dad!” Jasper shouted, followed by the rest of the kids chanting “Mom and Dad” over and over. Clarke rolled her eyes before looking up at Bellamy, who was just laughing at them as they walked up toward Kane.

“I have to ask, how did you two become the mom and dad of the house?” Kane asked, with an amused grin. Clarke couldn’t help but start laughing.

“Kane, I honestly don’t know. You’d have to ask Jasper. He started it,” Bellamy explained, trying to keep a straight face.

“Ummm. How dare you. I was the first person to call you Dad,” Raven pointed out.

“They’re Mom and Dad because they are always taking care of us,” Maya explained. Clarke grabbed Bellamy’s hand, smiling up at him. Bellamy used his other hand to pull her chin up to kiss her. Clarke could hardly kiss him back, since her smile was getting in the way. She could vaguely hear a few awws in the background.

“Not in front of the kids! You’re traumatizing us!” Monty shouted, causing the entire room to erupt into laughter. Even Kane couldn’t keep a straight face.

Once he could calm down, he continued, “Clarke, it is safe to say that you and Bellamy were not the biggest fans of each other early on. Why do you think Bellamy ended up being your perfect match?” Clarke didn’t know where to even begin when it came to answering this. There were a million different reasons why Bellamy was perfect for her.

“Well,” she started, trying to get her answer straight before continuing. “He understood me. Sure, we had some serious problems early on. But, he was always the person who could understand me and I understand him. We just fit.”

“What about you Bellamy? How do you know that Clarke is your perfect match?”

“It was always going to be Clarke,” Bellamy replied with a smile. “Once we settled our differences and started working together, it became very clear that there would never be anyone else for me. It was always her.” Clarke could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she and Bellamy locked in for the last time. He held her hand as they moved toward their bench. She looked around at her housemates, all matched up and happy. Bellamy pulled her into his chest once they were seated and he kissed her forehead. God, she loved Bellamy Blake.

 

_Bellamy_

Clarke started to tense up once the ceremony moved on to the part where Kane showed us how many perfect matches they got. They started out with six already lit… thank God. He wasn’t sure if he could handle the suspense of having each one lit one by one.

“Bellamy, I can’t watch,” Clarke said nervously, turning away from the lights to look at him. He cupped her chin, pulling her close so that their foreheads rested against each other. He could hear the nervous whispering of a few of his housemates… but he tried to drown them out.

“Clarke, you know that we’ve won this. You figured it all out, remember?” he tried to remind her, hoping to calm her nerves. He could see the seventh beam light up out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t break eye contact with her.

“But, what if I messed up? What if I missed something and made all these matches based on a mistake?” she rambled, and he tried to shut her up by kissing her. It slowed her for a second, but he could still see the tension on her face.

“Don’t look at the beams. Just look at me. Those beams don’t matter. Winning doesn’t matter,” he reassured. Of course, winning did matter. Money was money and they could all use it. But, if he walked out of there without the money, he would be okay. He found Clarke. That’s more than he thought he could possibly get by coming onto this dumb show. “We found each other. That’s what matters. Just look at me,” he whispered. He heard the rest of the room gasp as the eighth beam lit up. Clarke sucked in a breath but didn’t turn around to look at the beams.

“I love you,” she whispered, still making eye contact.

“I love you,” he whispered back, using his thumb to push some of her hair behind her ear. He could see Clarke taking deep breaths, probably trying to calm herself down.

“You love me,” she echoed with a small smile. He felt the entire room tense up, more than aware that the ninth beam should light up any second now. The nervous energy was starting to get to him, but he didn’t break eye contact with Clarke.

“I love you, princess.” He pulled her in for a slow kiss as he heard the ninth beam light up, followed by excited gasps from the rest of the house. Clarke parted her lips slightly, just enough to let him in. He groaned into her mouth, before pulling her even closer. He deepened the kiss as he heard the tenth beam light up, followed by screams from the rest of the house. He finally pulled away to see Clarke’s excited expression, as everyone in the house had begun jumping up and down, hugging each other.

Bellamy felt Octavia grab him and kiss him on the cheek.

“We fucking did it, Bell!” she shouted, before running back toward Lincoln. Bellamy pulled Clarke toward him by the waist, wrapping his arms around her, looking around the room. Maya and Jasper were kissing. Monty and Miller were hugging. Echo nearly jumped into Wells’ arms from excitement.

He leaned down to kiss Clarke’s forehead, without releasing her from the embrace. “The kids turned out alright,” he jokingly whispered into her ear, still looking around.

“We were okay parents,” she replied, kissing him on the cheek.

“What was it that Jasper said? That the kids do better when Mom and Dad stay together?” he reminded her, laughing at the memory. Then, Miller mauled him with a tight hug and Clarke got pulled over to hug Echo. These were his last moments with his weird little house family, he realized. He felt himself start to tear up, looking around at all of them. Yeah, the kids were going to be alright, he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got one more chapter for you guys: an epilogue that takes place on year later. I might take a little longer getting that one up because it's going to be very long. The only thing I'll tell you guys about it is that it features a wedding :)
> 
> Love you guys! You've been so great and supportive and I couldn't have asked for my first fic to go over so well. Ya'll are perf. Never change.


	18. We Own Property and a Domesticated Animal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last fluffy chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Let me know what you guys think!

_Finn_

He was sitting in his first-class seat, staring at his phone, praying it would ring before the flight took off. He forced himself to take a deep breath. If she called while he was in the air, he would just find out in a few hours, he reminded himself. He looked around as his fellow passengers boarded the plane. It had been a year since he had boarded onto a plane just like this one to be on a dating show that would change his life. A lot could change in a year, he thought to himself.

He pushed his bag underneath the seat in front of him, leaning back in his chair to get comfortable. He let his mind wander to his former housemates, wondering how they all ended up. He figured he’d hear all about it in just a few days when they all flew in for the wedding. He hadn’t done a great job of keeping up with all of them… but he had been busy lately.

Then, his phone finally started ringing. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Oh, good. I caught you before you flight took off,” Echo said, sounding slightly relieved.

“Well?” he asked sharply, knowing that it was probably a little too harsh. But, he reminded himself, Echo was never one for small talk anyway.

“What? No ‘hello, Echo!’ or ‘how are you doing?’ or ‘can’t wait to see you?’” she snapped in a joking manner.

“Hello, Echo,” he humored her. “Can’t wait to see you. How are you doing?”

“I was doing great until I ended up on the phone with your impatient ass.”

“Speaking of my impatient ass…” he said, trying to remind her of why they were on the phone.

“He loved it. He wants me to go over a schedule for your edits this weekend… but he expects it to be on the shelves within a few months!” Finn nearly dropped his phone. He was finally going to be a published author.

“Are you serious?” he had to ask. He needed the reassurance that this was actually real. Echo had always told him that his story was great and was worth publishing… but he couldn’t believe she was actually right.

“I’m always serious, idiot. I’m expecting your dedication to be all about me, by the way,” she said in a joking tone… but Finn knew she was completely serious.

“I’m just surprised that you haven’t already written my dedication for me,” he replied, smirking to himself. He leaned back in his seat, finally relaxing after months of worrying about how his first manuscript would be received.

“I want to see what you come up with. It better be damn good, Finn.”

Finn had been really worried about seeing everyone again after all this time. He imagined that all of them lived happily ever after. He worried that he and Echo would be the only ones who couldn’t fall in love with each other. But, as he listened to her ramble on about how this book would just be the first step of his successful career, he remembered that he wouldn’t have it any other way. It may not have been what he originally wanted… but it was what he needed.

“Wait, isn’t your plane supposed to take off soon?”

“Yeah, in about five minutes.”

“Okay, well, have a safe flight. Text me when you land.”

“Still want me to pick you up from the airport tomorrow?”

“You don’t honestly expect me to take a cab to the hotel, do you?” she snapped, and he knew she was completely serious. He did his best not to burst out laughing.

“Of course not. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He hung up, before turning his phone to airplane mode. Everyone on the plane had boarded and the flight attendants were starting their safety demonstration. Finn looked out the window, thinking about what a crazy year it had been. Yeah, a lot could change in a year.

 

_Bellamy_

He couldn’t find it. He knew he had packed it in his carry-on. He wouldn’t have forgotten it.

“Bell, what are you looking for?” Clarke asked. He jumped, not aware that Clarke had even entered the room. She was supposed to be out with Lexa for a bit longer.

“My, uh, headphones. I wanted to listen to a podcast before going to sleep,” he lied, trying to force himself to look calm.

“I told you that I was borrowing them. Were you not listening? I put them on the bedside table,” she muttered before heading into the bathroom. Bellamy went back to tearing apart his backpack. He wouldn’t have thrown it into his suitcase, he reasoned. He would want to keep it on his person. But, after going through every damn pocket, it was clear that it wasn’t there.

“So, how is Lexa doing?” he asked, trying not to seem suspicious.

“She’d be great if her dress fitting went better. She lost a few more pounds and so they’ll have to take it in again.” Bellamy made an acknowledging grunt, before heading over to his suitcase. He really should have unpacked by now, he realized. “Luckily, mine didn’t need to be altered,” she continued from the bathroom as he could hear her washing her face. He went through all of his shirts to see if he had stashed it in there… but no luck. He left it at home.

“So, the maid of honor is ready to go, but the bride is kind of screwed?” he joked, walking over to the bathroom. Clarke had changed into one of his t-shirts and her hair was pulled up into a messy bun.

“Pretty much. But, I look hot as fuck,” she said teasingly, walking out of the bathroom toward him to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Ready for bed?”

“Uh, actually, I want to call Octavia really quickly to check on her and then I’ll join you,” he said, trying to convince himself that what he just said wasn’t a total lie. He probably should check on Octavia.

“Okay. Tell her I said hi,” Clarke said as she hopped into bed. Bellamy grabbed his phone and headed out into the hall, hoping Clarke wouldn’t be too suspicious about him leaving the room for a phone call. He called Octavia.

“Bell, it is so late. What do you want?” she asked crankily. He instantly regretting waking her up. He knew that her pregnancy was making it hard enough for her to get sleep as it was. He was not helping.

“O, I’m sorry. I forgot something at my apartment and I need you to get it before you fly up here,” he said as quietly as he could, hoping that he had walked far enough from his hotel room that Clarke couldn’t hear him.

“What could you have forgotten that was so damn important? The ring?” she snapped, and Bellamy looked down at the floor. “Oh my God. How the fuck did you forget the ring?” He swallowed as he looked up at the ceiling, leaning back against the hallway wall.

“I swear I packed it. I really thought I did. I don’t know. I just forgot it.”

“How long have you been planning this, Bell? Like, you literally had one job.”

“Look, if it’s too much to ask, you don’t have to go get it. I can ask her another time. This was my fuck up.”

“Oh, no. You’re asking her this weekend. It’s your damn anniversary,” Octavia snapped, and he heard Lincoln mumble to her in the background.

“Octavia, what’s wrong?” he heard him ask.

“My dumbass brother forgot the damn ring he got for Clarke,” she explained to Lincoln, as Bellamy quietly banged the back of his head into the wall.

“I can hear you, O,” he reminded her.

“Good. You need to be reminded that you’re a dumbass.”

“Will you please just go get it before your flight tomorrow?” he begged, hoping that his sister would tone down the sass. He was already beating himself up enough already.

“Of course. I’ll text you when I get it,” she said sweetly, before hanging up. Bellamy took a deep breath before heading back to his room. Clarke was already tucked in with the lights off.

“How is Octavia?” she asked sleepily, as he took off his shoes and slid into bed next to her.

“Five months pregnant and a little bit mean,” he whispered as he got himself comfortable. Clarke rolled over to his side of the bed, resting her head on his chest as his arm pulled the rest of her closer to him.

“Sounds like the Octavia I remember,” she joked, closing her eyes. He leaned over to kiss her forehead, before closing his eyes.

“Good night, Clarke,” he whispered, trying to calm himself down enough to actually fall asleep. He had already been nervous for a while now… but forgetting the ring just made his level of panic rise to an uncomfortable level. He wasn’t sure he could sleep.

“Sweet dreams, Bellamy,” she whispered back. He could feel Clarke already start to drift off… and his mind had just started racing. He might not ever sleep again, he thought to himself.

 

_Murphy_

He had never actually been to a wedding before, he realized. He had a general idea of how they were supposed to go down, but he was not prepared for something called the “rehearsal dinner.” Emori tried explaining it to him… but honestly, it just sounded like the brides wanted to pregame their wedding the night before it actually took place. He and Emori had shown up on time… which he quickly learned was a mistake. The only people that were on time were Anya and Lexa’s family, who he had never met and had literally nothing to talk to them about.

If he was being honest, he didn’t even want to be there. He only agreed to come to the wedding because it was going to be a little Matched reunion and Emori really wanted to see everyone again. As she rambled excitedly about seeing everyone again, all Murphy could think about was how jetlagged he was and that no amount of coffee could keep him awake for the next four hours.

“Hey, guys!” he heard someone behind him shout. He whipped his head around to see Roan rushing toward him and Emori. He grabbed both of them in an awkward little hug as Murphy struggled to remember if he and Roan had ever had an actual conversation.

“Roan, how are you?” Emori asked, nudging Murphy with her elbow. Oh right, he remembered. He needed to smile. He was supposed to be happy to be there.

“I’m doing really great. I just flew in a few hours ago. How about you guys? You just got back from Japan, right?” Roan asked, and Murphy became very confused about how Roan knew that.

“Yeah, we did,” Emori jumped in. “I hope you don’t mind all the postcards I’ve been sending,” she added, sweetly. Oh, that’s who all those post cards were for, he realized. She had been sending them to all the old housemates to stay in touch. That was kind of sweet, he thought.

“Have you guys enjoyed travelling?” Roan asked, honestly kind of nailing this whole small talk thing, Murphy thought.

“It’s been great. A lot of cool sightseeing and there’s nothing better than seeing the world with the person you love,” Murphy said, making sure to sound extra cheesy. Emori rolled her eyes. Roan seemed unfazed by all of it. Murphy looked around the room again. Anya and Lexa had finally showed up, and it was about damn time, he thought. He saw Raven and Luna off to the side talking with Echo. Wait, he thought, why was Roan alone? “Is Wells with you?” he asked suddenly.

Roan looked down at his feet, his smile drooping a bit but not falling completely. “I know that he was invited to the wedding. I assume he wouldn’t miss this,” he said, clearly trying to hide the discomfort that Murphy’s question had caused.

“Murphy!” Finn yelled, before running over toward them. Roan jokingly rolled his eyes. “Guys, aren’t you so pumped for this wedding?” he asked excitedly, clearly already starting on the wine.

“The most pumped,” Emori joked, putting her hand on his shoulder. Murphy stepped over to the bar to grab himself a drink. At least there was an open bar, he joked to himself, looking around the room. Most of last season’s cast of Matched had arrived by then… he just hoped this was one party that they would all stay sober for.

 

_Octavia_

“You’re drinking for two tonight,” she said, putting a drink in Lincoln’s hand. He rolled his eyes as he sat it down on the table. She sat down next to him, having a bit of difficulty fitting herself in the seat. As happy as she was to be seeing all of her friends again… she wished that she could be drinking with all of them. It was hard to be the life of the party while pregnant.

“Just because you can’t drink, doesn’t mean I have to compensate,” he said with a mock stern look on his face. She rolled her eyes. Across the table, she saw Miller and Bryan laugh at their conversation.

“Something funny?” she snapped, and they both immediately covered their faces. She was sitting in between Bellamy and Lincoln. The others at her table were Clarke, Raven, and Luna. She got a pretty good table, she thought. Although, she was dying to know why Wells and Roan were not sitting at the same table. From what she could tell, all of the couples from the show had actually stayed together… which for this show was super rare.

They were all sitting around, waiting on the dessert course to be served. Clarke had gotten up to help Lexa with something.

“O, did you bring it?” Bellamy whispered, as she fished the box out of her purse before sliding it to him under the table. She gave him a stern look before redirecting her attention back to the table.

“So, Raven and Luna, what have you guys been up to?” she asked. Luna and Raven shared a glance and a small smile.

“Well, we live together and we just got a dog,” Raven said in the most dramatic way possible.

“That’s how you know it’s real. We own property and a domesticated animal,” Luna added with a smirk. Octavia rolled her eyes. She had expected them to start going on crazy adventures together, like sky diving on the weekends as they start a fight club for the weeknights. She didn’t think they of all people would become so domestic so quickly. Who knew that Emori and Murphy would be the most interesting of the couples?

“I know it sounds boring to you. Nothing can be as exciting as eloping right after the show,” Raven pointed out, as the waiters brought in the plates of desserts. Lincoln grabbed her hand and smiled. It was kind of crazy, she thought. Bellamy was pissed when she called him afterwards, she remembered. But, it was what she wanted. Lincoln asked her before the show ended and she couldn’t imagine spending another second of her life not married to him. So, she went for it.

“Do you guys know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Bryan jumped in, gesturing to Octavia’s growing belly. Oh right, she remembered, she was also pregnant. Wait, did that make her and Lincoln the old boring couple of the house now?

“We want to be surprised,” Lincoln explained, cutting into his pie with a fork. Clarke came back to the table, sitting down without saying a word. Octavia wondered if Clarke even had a clue about what Bellamy was planning. If she did, it didn’t show. But, there’s no way a girl as smart as her could not have picked it up with how weird he has been for the last few months.

“Everything okay?” she heard her brother ask Clarke.

“They delivered the chairs to the wrong venue and Lexa was freaking out a little bit. I handled it, though,” she said, stabbing her slice of pie with her fork. From what Bellamy had told her, it was clear that Clarke was working extra hard on making this wedding special for Lexa and Anya. She was constantly on the phone with Lexa, reassuring her about something. She looked exhausted from all the hours she had put in this week making sure that Lexa and Anya’s families got settled in well. That girl could use a break.

The four couples continued to make small talk about the wedding until they were done eating. Once the rehearsal dinner was over, most of her former housemates were hanging out in the lobby of the hotel. Lincoln was having an intense conversation with Miller and Bellamy… and Octavia was getting bored. She already spent enough time with all of them back home. So, she headed toward Jasper, Monty, Harper, and Maya.

“Octavia!” Jasper screeched, sounding a little drunk. Ah yes, she thought, that’s the Jasper she remembers. He jumped up from his chair to hug her and awkwardly petted her stomach. She rolled her eyes again.

“Hey, guys,” she replied sweetly, leaning in to give Monty a side hug.

“Can you believe that Anya and Lexa are going to be married tomorrow?” Harper asked, with an overwhelmed expression on her face. Honestly, no. Octavia couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t the couple that she had expected to get married next. She figured it would be Jasper and Maya or Monty and Harper, considering how intense they had all been a year ago.

“It seems like it was just yesterday that they were yelling at each other over dumb strategy,” Maya said with a hiccup.

“Yeah, but so were Mom and Dad,” Jasper added, gesturing over to Clarke and Bellamy. Bellamy was still listening to Lincoln, but kept looking over to Clarke regardless of where she was in the room. Ugh, he had it so bad, she thought.

“You guys still call them Mom and Dad?” she asked, kind of amused that the joke had stuck.

“Have you seen Clarke hovering around this wedding? She has never been more mom in her life. And Bellamy keeps taking drinks out of my hand and making me drink water. They will never stop being Mom and Dad,” Monty added with a smirk.

“Are they going to be your kid’s godparents? Because I would make a great godfather,” Jasper asked, making sure to embrace his inner Al Pacino as he said “godfather.” She rolled her eyes before gently punching him on the arm. He sat back down next to Maya, who snuggled into his neck immediately. They were still just too cute, she thought.

The rest of the night was full of small talk and inside jokes from Matched. She really wanted to pay attention, especially considering how much she had missed these people. But, she was getting too tired and gave in when Lincoln begged her to go upstairs and go to bed.

Once she was finally in bed, she reflected on her weird night. It was strange seeing everyone again… outside of that house. Everyone seemed very different but happy. She was happy.

No, she was very happy, she reminded herself as Lincoln pressed his chest up against her back, resting his hand on her stomach. She was the most happy. She couldn’t have asked for a better life and loved Lincoln for giving it to her. And, from the looks of it, almost everyone from the house seemed to be feeling the same way. For the most part, they all looked the most happy.

 

_Lexa_

“Remind me why I agreed to all of this,” Lexa muttered as she paced the room. Clarke was sitting at the vanity, with her arms crossed, giving Lexa a cool glare.

“Because you’re in love and want to spend the rest of your life with Anya,” Clarke reminded, clearly getting tired of doing this. Lexa knew that she hadn’t exactly been easy to be around lately, and was pretty grateful that Clarke was still putting up with her nonsense.

“But, I could have just run off and eloped like Octavia and Lincoln did. Why the fuck didn’t we do that?” she snapped, plopping herself down on the couch.

“You done?” Clarke asked, standing up to bring her a glass of water. Lexa nodded, knowing that her panic was probably not even warranted. Clarke sat down next to her. “You wanted a big wedding so that everyone you love could see the two of you happy and together. It is okay to be nervous. But, this is exactly what you wanted. Want to know how I know that?”

“Because you’ve spent six months listening to me dictate exactly what I wanted?”

“Because I spent six fucking months listening to you dictate exactly what you wanted,” Clarke echoed. “Every detail is exactly how you imagined it. I managed to work in every individual thing that you and Anya wanted. You look beautiful, she looks beautiful. Everything is as it should be. Just go marry her,” Clarke said exasperatedly.

“Distract me,” Lexa whispered, throwing her head back. She would have been fine if her wedding had actually started on time. But, of course, Anya and her bridesmaids got caught in traffic on the way to the ceremony. So, Lexa has had too much time to think about how many things could go wrong.

“How would you like me to distract you?” Clarke asked, throwing her head back just to mirror Lexa. She couldn’t help but giggle at that.

“How have you been? I feel like I haven’t been asking you that lately because I’ve been bridezilla.”

“No, Anya has been bridezilla. You’ve been bridezilla lite. But, I’ve been good. I’m almost done with med school, Bellamy is good, and I finally caught up on House of Cards,” she rambled, clearly struggling with more things to talk about.

“So, you and Bellamy are still happy together?”

“Yeah. He’s been weird lately, but I’ll get to the bottom of that nonsense once this wedding is over,” Clarke sighed, suddenly sounding very exhausted. Lexa was starting to feel bad about how hard Clarke had worked on this wedding. She knew what she was getting into when Lexa asked her to be her maid of honor… but still. Lexa and Anya had not been easygoing about any of this.

“Weird how?”

“Remember last year when he kept calling me kiddo and patting me on the head?” she asked with a smile. Lexa burst out laughing at the memory. That boy had so little game when it came to Clarke it wasn’t even funny. “The weirdness has had that kind of vibe.”

“Maybe he’s pregnant,” she joked, prompting Clarke to lean into her lap cackling. Lexa was really happy that Clarke was the one to be there for her on her wedding day, she thought to herself. They had their ups and downs… but other than Anya, Clarke was the person she trusted the most in the world.

“Oh God, what if I’m not the father?” Clarke asked in a mock outraged tone. Lexa was sure that Bellamy being weird was just him being him. He might be up to something… but she’s not going to let herself worry too much about. He loves her a little too much. They’ll be fine.

“I’m getting married today,” Lexa whispered with a smile ghosting across her lips. She still couldn’t believe it. She loved Anya and was so excited when they decided they wanted to get married. But, it all just seemed too good to be true.

“You’re getting married today,” Clarke echoed, sounding just as dumbfounded as Lexa felt.

“I never thought I’d get this,” she confessed, remembering just how hard it was for her to get to this point.

“But, you deserve it more than anyone,” Clarke reassured, grabbing her hand.

“So do you, Clarke,” Lexa reminded Clarke, who promptly looked down at her hands.

“One day,” she whispered before they heard a knock on the door.

“She’s ready,” she heard Bryan yell through the door. Lexa glanced at Clarke who was shooting her a reassuring look. She deserves this, she kept reminding herself, as she straightened up her dress and took one last look in the mirror. She was getting married today.

 

_Raven_

The wedding was running late. She was getting a little bit restless. Luna kept grabbing her leg whenever she would shake it too much, but it did little to calm her down. She really hated waiting for anything.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Wells reassured, whispering in her ear. Raven was seated toward the back with Luna and Wells. She didn’t want to be too close to the front, since she wasn’t really that close to Anya or Lexa.

Raven rolled her eyes at Wells. She knew everything was going to be fine. She just was eager to get this wedding over with so that they could all skip to the afterparty. Wells was no longer paying attention to Raven, however. She followed his stare to see Roan, sitting with Bellamy and Echo. Oh, she realized. Maybe Wells had just been reassuring himself.

“Why aren’t you sitting with Roan?” she asked, curious since no one seemed to have a clue what went down with them after the show ended.

“It’s not like we came here together,” Wells answered sharply and Raven dropped it. She grabbed Luna’s hand, trying to find something more pleasant to think about.

Then, as if on cue, the wedding started. Raven tried not to gush too much over how cute Luna looked when watching the ringbearer stumble down the aisle. Raven wondered if that would be something Luna would want someday. They hadn’t talked about kids before, since they had only been together for less than a year. But, Luna would be one hell of a mom, she thought. And Raven couldn’t help but get a little excited about going on that particular adventure with her. Then, the bridesmaids trickled in. Clarke looked really good, she thought. Lexa had excellent taste in dresses.

Then, Lexa and Anya walked in together, holding hands in their coordinated wedding dresses. They had different silhouettes and necklines… but Raven couldn’t help but notice how well they looked together. And the two of them looked so damn happy, she thought.

Raven didn’t pay too much attention to the specifics of the ceremony. Their personal vows were just a little too long for her taste and she was never a big fan of sappy wedding crap. But, even Raven couldn’t help but tear up when Anya and Lexa finally kissed. Luna snatched her hand as it happened and Raven found herself wondering what it would be like when it was Luna and her up there.

Lexa and Anya practically sprinted back down the aisle once the ceremony was over, looking way too eager to start their lives together. Raven understood that, she thought, as she watched Luna gush over how beautiful the ceremony was. She wasn’t listening to a word she was saying… but she was in love with whatever it was. She couldn’t help but be in love with whatever Luna said. Because the love of her life was saying it.

 

_Jasper_

“What the fuck even is a cocktail hour?” Jasper asked, really irritated at how few cocktails were actually there.

“Haven’t you ever been to a wedding before? It’s all the rage nowadays,” Harper explained for the thousandth time. Jasper didn’t really want to hear about how she knows all of this from dumb TLC shows. He just wanted a damn cocktail or some food. He should have figured that Lexa and Anya would only have weird fancy shit at their wedding… but all he wanted was some comfort food like mac n’ cheese or a grilled cheese. Jasper started pouting and Maya patted his shoulder.

“Why can’t people just get married and that be it? Like they really don’t need a big party,” Monty jumped in, earning a glare from Harper. Oooh, Jasper thought, that’ll be a fun match up when those two get around to getting hitched. Then, he saw Clarke walk by and grabbed her by the arm.

“Please tell me you have a snack in your purse,” he asked her, earning him a stern look from Clarke.

“I’m not your mom, Jasper.”

“But, do you have a snack in your purse?” he asked with a smile, before she begrudgingly pulled a protein bar out of her bag and gave it to him. “Thanks, Mom,” he said sweetly, before turning around to the rest of his group. Maya shot him a stern look, like she was telling him that their inside joke was starting to get old. “I will keep calling her Mom until she becomes an actual mom,” he said proudly, not willing to back down from those pet names.

“Bruh, Octavia is already becoming a mom. Clarke could totally be next. We need to use up this nickname while we still can,” Monty said urgently, which earned an eye roll from Harper and Maya. Jasper nodded in agreement, hoping to at least sway Maya back into team fun.

Eventually, the doors opened, letting everyone into the reception area. Luckily, Clarke had been in charge of the seating chart, which meant that he and Maya got seated with Monty and Harper. Wells and Echo were also at their table, which Jasper was okay with. They weren’t his favorite people… but at least Echo probably had some snarky side comments to share with the table.

The dinner went by pretty pleasantly, he thought. He had worried that after all this time, getting the whole gang back together would be weird… but it wasn’t. Sure, everyone was somewhere radically different than before, but they all seemed better. He was just happy to get to spend more time with Maya, who he had been missing lately. She got a promotion that took her three hours away from him, which had been difficult for them. He always said that long distance was the wrong distance. But for her, he didn’t mind the struggle. It was just a lot of late night phone calls and cramming in a week’s worth of love into a weekend. He only had to get through three more months and he could transfer and finally be back in the same city as her.

He looked over at his best friend Monty, who also seemed pretty happy. They had a phone call once a week, which kept him pretty well informed. He and Harper were doing great, settling in together pretty well. Every other month Jasper and Monty got together, occasionally bringing along their girlfriends. But, it was really nice for all four of them to get to spend this whole weekend together.

While Maya and Echo were gossiping, Jasper got up to go stretch his legs. He wasn’t really in the mood to dance yet, so he walked out into the hallway where he saw Bellamy and Octavia engaging in a serious conversation. He accidentally made eye contact with Bellamy before glancing away quickly, hoping not to get in the middle of anything. He started to walk toward the ballroom when he heard Octavia spat, “You cannot just chicken out of this. You’re going to ask her tomorrow. I didn’t go get that damn ring for nothing.” Jasper turned around, eyes wide. Oh my God, he screamed in his head. Bellamy shot him another glare when he realized that Jasper had not actually left. Octavia turned around to look at Jasper before looking embarrassed.

“I won’t say anything I swear,” Jasper said quickly, unable to keep the huge grin off his face.

“Jasper, I swear to God,” Bellamy muttered, clearly trying to sound threatening.

“So, you and Mom, huh?” he teased before Octavia slapped him on the back of the head. Okay, that one hurt. But, it was worth it.

“Seriously, do not tell Clarke or anyone,” Octavia threatened. To be honest, Jasper was more scared of Octavia than Bellamy.

“I won’t. I’m not that kind of person,” Jasper said, hands up defensively. Bellamy let out a sigh of relief before leaning back against the wall and throwing his head back. “Can I just ask… why are you so stressed out about it?” To Jasper, it seemed like a no brainer. She was going to say yes.

“Because, my idiot brother has no game when it comes to Clarke,” Octavia teased, nudging Bellamy with her shoulder. Bellamy just groaned as he threw his hands over his face. Jasper chuckled to himself as he turned around and headed back to the ballroom.

He marched back to his table, where Maya was waiting for him. Wells was gone and Monty and Harper were off dancing. He kissed her on the forehead before extending his hand out for her to join him for a dance. As he pulled her in, he whispered, “If I tell you the hugest secret, will you promise not to tell anyone?”

 

_Wells_

He was so relieved when Clarke asked him to dance. The whole wedding had been just too much and he was seriously regretting even showing up. It was awkward being part of one of the couples that didn’t work out… especially when every other couple seemed to work out so perfectly.

“Have you even talked to Roan?” Clarke asked, not even dancing around the issue. He let out a sigh. He hadn’t talked to him and wasn’t sure if he even wanted to.

“Can we not?” he replied curtly. He didn’t mean to be harsh to Clarke. He missed her. But, this wasn’t how he wanted to spend what little time they had together.

“Okay. Have you seen Bellamy? He’s been acting weird,” she asked, glancing around the room. Of course he was acting weird, Wells thought. He had heard from Bryan who had heard from Maya that he was planning on proposing. He was probably nervous as hell. Wells was surprised that Clarke hadn’t figured that out by now… but she had been distracted by this wedding lately.

“No, I haven’t,” he replied. “Hey, you did one hell of a job on this wedding, by the way.” Clarke smiled sweetly at that.

“I just hope it was everything Anya and Lexa wanted,” she answered, looking back at the two of them. They really were happy, Wells noted. He couldn’t help but feel jealous at their happiness… along with everyone else’s. He was happy too. His job was going well and his social life had never been more active. But… he was still lonely.

“Mind if I cut in?” Bellamy asked, gesturing toward Clarke. Wells stepped aside as the two of them started dancing. God, Clarke looked so happy. He wanted what the two of them had, he realized.

He went back to his table to watch everyone dancing for a while, but it started to become overwhelming. It was one thing to sometimes feel lonely… but he just felt unbearably alone as he saw Anya and Lexa kissing, Bellamy and Clarke dancing, or Maya and Jasper cuddling. He took a deep breath as he stepped into the hallway, away from the party. Then, he headed for the door, needing fresh air. He was frustrated. He wished that he and Roan became a couple a year ago. He wished that he had an easy match like everyone else. Or he wished that he could be content like Finn and Echo seemed to be. But, he didn’t have any of that. He just had unfinished business with someone he hadn’t seen in a year.

He marched through the doors and plopped down on a bench outside the building. He took a few deep breaths, trying to remind himself of why he bothered to come to this wedding. He wanted to see Clarke. He missed his friends from the house… And he wanted to see Roan again.

“Hi,” he heard someone utter as he whipped his head around. It was Roan. He had followed him out there.

“Hi,” was all Wells could bring himself to say in return.

“I’m sorry I never called,” Roan blurted out, looking down at his feet.

“I didn’t call either. It’s okay,” Wells replied, not making eye contact. He stood up to walk back in the building, before realizing that require having to actually walk past Roan, which he wasn’t sure he could actually do.

“It’s not. I told you I would call you when I got my life back together and I didn’t.” Wells just stared at him, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible. It had been an entire fucking year, he reminded himself. He shouldn’t have such an emotional response to this. He was supposed to have moved on.

“Why didn’t you?” he asked, struggling to keep his eyes from betraying how he was feeling.

“Because it took longer than I expected,” he muttered, breaking eye contact again and looking back at the building behind him. He swallowed before continuing, “It’s been a year. I figured that you already moved on. You probably have a lot going on and don’t need me throwing myself back into your life. I mean, I told you not to wait for me,” he said, eyes struggling not to make eye contact.

Wells swallowed, feeling his heart start to pound. “I’m still waiting for you,” Wells whispered, hoping Roan would look back at him. His eyes shot up, before closing the space between the two of them, put one hand on the side of Wells’ face, and pulled him in for a rough, passionate kiss. It was the most hungry, desperate kiss he had ever experienced. Once the initial shock wore off, Wells relaxed into it, tugging Roan closer by the collar.

They stayed like that for a while, pushing and pulling each other into desperate kisses. When Wells finally pulled back, he realized that Roan had been holding back tears. He pulled Roan back in for a tight embrace, as Roan tucked his head into Wells’ neck.

“Thank you, for waiting for me,” Roan whispered.

“I would have waited forever,” Wells whispered back, drawing little circles into Roan’s back with his fingers.

 

_Miller_

The wedding was really phenomenal, he thought. Anya and Lexa seemed really happy and Miller had liked getting to catch up with all his friends again.

He was currently lying in bed, trying to fall asleep despite Bryan’s snoring. They had left the wedding early because they had to get up early the next morning to drive home. He and Bryan made the decision a few months ago to become foster parents, and they only two more days to get the house ready for their foster child. Bryan had finished painting the kid’s room… but Miller hadn’t even begun to start putting together that damn dresser from IKEA.

Then, he heard knocking on his door. Who the fuck would be bothering him this late, he wondered. He got up, since apparently Bryan wasn’t going to wake up, and grumbled over the door.

It was fucking Bellamy.

“Dude, why?” was all that Miller could get out, before Bellamy yanked him into the hallway.

“I’m freaking out!” Bellamy said, doing that whisper shout thing again.

“Is this about proposing to Clarke?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. Bellamy’s eyes shot wide open.

“Who the fuck told you about that?” he snapped, before remembering to check his volume.

“Well, Bryan told me first. Then, Raven, then Wells.” Bellamy threw himself against the nearest wall, covering his face with his hands.

“I’m so fucked. There’s no way she doesn’t know now.”

“Literally none of them would have told her.”

“But, if they know, they would be acting weird around her and she would assume something was up!”

“Earlier tonight, I saw you spaz out and knock over three glasses of champagne after Clarke smiled at you. If anyone is blowing this for you, it’s you, dumbass,” Miller snapped, still kind of pissed about being bothered this late at night.

“Ugh I’m so fucked,” he muttered, sinking down to sit on the ground. Well, Miller thought, this was how his night was going to go, he guessed. So, he plopped down across from Bellamy.

“It really can’t be that hard to ask her. She’s going to say yes.”

“It’s storming outside for the next few days. I was going to ask her outside tomorrow.”

“Then, go with your plan B,” Miller suggested, feeling annoyed that he had to spell all of this out for his idiot best friend. Bellamy shot back a deer in the headlights look.

“There was no plan B…” Now, Miller threw his head back. Bellamy had always been the king of overthinking things. He would have guessed that Bellamy would have at least ten different back up plans.

He grumbled to himself, wondering how he became this idiot’s therapist. It was clear that Bellamy was just getting too much in his head. “I have a weird idea. Why don’t you just ask her?”

“You can’t just ask someone something like that,” Bellamy snapped, like Miller was the one who was being stupid.

“I bet Clarke would appreciate a simple proposal. She doesn’t strike me as a big romantic gesture kind of girl,” Miller continued, now glaring at Bellamy because he knew he was right. He could see the realization slowly hit Bellamy’s face.

“Wait, but then how do I just ask her?” he asked, looking horribly confused. Miller started to stand up, not being alert enough to deal with this.

“I can’t tell you how to suddenly have game. You either have it or you don’t, man,” he muttered, before heading back to his room. He heard Bellamy groan behind him as he shut his door, tiptoeing back to bed. When he climbed in, Bryan immediately shifted to move closer, and Miller couldn’t help but smile.

 

_Clarke_

She loved Bellamy, she really did. But, God, he makes so much noise. Last night, he got up in the middle of the night randomly, tripped over at least three different things, before letting the door slam shut behind him. Then, he made just as graceful of an entrance as he literally tripped into bed, waking Clarke up again.

And, of course, he was tossing and turning all night. Clarke was starting to get worried about him. She didn’t know if there was something serious going on with him or if he wasn’t feeling good about their relationship. She really hadn’t been that focused on him these last few weeks as she put the finishing touches on this bitch of a wedding. And now, she was absolutely exhausted, trying to get some sleep despite her boyfriend, who she loves very much, making too much noise trying to get ready that morning.

“Bell?” she asked sleepily, turning over to face him.

“Yeah?” he asked, turning his head slightly as he rummaged through his suitcase.

“Can you please just come back to bed?” she begged.

He got up and crawled back in bed next to her, and she snuggled up into his chest, intertwining her legs with his. “Princess, are you okay?” he whispered, running fingers through her hair.

“Yeah, I’m just so tired and I just want you here, okay?” she mumbled into his chest, closing her eyes. He kept running his fingers up and down her back, knowing full well how that lulls her back to sleep.

When she woke up again, it was a few hours later. She hadn’t moved from his chest. He was already awake when she woke up. “Did you even sleep?” she whispered, tilting her head up to look at him.

“A little,” he mumbled, smiling at her softly.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course, I’m okay,” he reassured, pulling her closer into his chest. “Do you want to go do something today?” She looked up and glanced out the window, looking at how ugly the weather looked. She must have made a face because he started laughing. “We could also just stay here all day,” he said with a teasing smile.

“You might be joking, but staying in bed all day sounds so nice,” she said sleepily, pushing herself up to kiss him on the cheek. He turned onto his side, so that he and Clarke were lying in bed just facing each other,

“Okay,” he whispered with a smile. “I’ll never say no to anything involving you and a bed,” he smirked. Clarke gave him a soft smack on the shoulder before pulling him in for a kiss.

“You’re horrible.”

“You love me.”

“I love you,” she said, mirroring the huge smile on his face. He slid a little bit closer to her, using his thumb to push her hair out of her face.

“I love you,” he whispered before pulling her in for a deep kiss. She parted her lips slightly, moaning into his mouth, as he closed any distance left between them. God, did she love this man. “I’m so in love with you, Clarke,” he murmured against her lips. She struggled to keep her smile under control so that it wouldn’t mess up their kiss… but she failed and instead pressed her forehead against his. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he said very seriously, studying her face closely.

Her heart started pounding. Was this why he had been acting weird lately? Was he stressing out about their future? She ran her fingers through his hair as his eyes kept penetrating hers. “Clarke,” he whispered, pulling her by her waist even closer. She nodded against his forehead, urging him to continue, not really know what he was about to say. She swallowed, as she suddenly started kicking herself for not working harder to find out why he had been acting weird earlier.

“Please, will you marry me?” he asked with an earnest facial expression, studying her face, trying to get a read on her reaction. Clarke didn’t have time to say anything because she felt her body act before she could even get the words out. She pulled him by his neck, crashing her lips into his, drowning his entire face with quick pecks before returning to his lips.

It wasn’t until she remembered to stop for air that he whispered, “Clarke, that doesn’t actually answer my question,” with a small smile.

“Oh my God I’m so sorry. Yes of course yes,” she rambled frantically, not understanding how she could have forgotten the most basic of proposal etiquette… you know, to actually answer the damn proposal.

“Yes?” he echoed, with that huge smile forming on his face.

She pulled his face back toward hers and nodded, suddenly unable to speak, still recovering from her racing heart.

“I love you so much,” he whispered into her neck before kissing her slowly up and down her throat.

“I love you more than anything,” she replied, before being pushed onto her back and being showered in kisses all over her face.

“We’re getting married,” Bellamy whispered excitedly into her ear, before kissing it.

“We’re getting married,” she echoed, closing her eyes while the biggest smile danced across her face. He continued to kiss every inch of exposed skin as she whispered “I love you” over and over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost 80k later and here we are. Thank you guys for all the feedback and support. You've been wonderful. Like I've said, this is my first time ever writing a fic and all this support has been really encouraging. I've got a few ideas for my next work.
> 
> Also, if you want to talk to me about the 100 or life or want to throw a prompt my way, hit me up on tumblr, I'm askroarke there as well. 
> 
> Anyways, I love you guys. You've been so sweet to me. Thanks for the love!


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